The Cursed Gamer

Chapter 31: Something is Wrong (3)

—

Thud-

The moment I backhanded the kid, he fell on his face. One of his teeth slipped out of his lips, must have hurt.

"Good morning,"

I smiled at him while slipping my hands in my pockets.

The black-haired kid, wearing the same uniform as me, glared at me from the floor. He had normal black eyes and an above-average face. I think he's the guy sitting behind me…?

I am not sure.

Doesn't matter who he is – but he is strange.

First day at school. Guy is injured and wrapped in bandages already… I don't wanna hurt an already hurt guy and I also don't wanna be a douchebag on the first day.

[Image Here]



I sighed. "Y'know, you shouldn't just charge at people like that. I don't believe we have ever met before."

Upon my inquiry, the kid kept glaring. Abruptly, a part of his black hair turned ash-grey – almost as if he just became an old man.

…!

Suddenly – an ice spike came out of his hand, flying towards my face.

I tilted my head to the left and evaded it swiftly.

"Oh, Ice quirk. Interesting."

I didn't wear the bracelet of intimidation, or this guy might have wet himself by now.

...Upon commanding an <Observe>, his information appeared in my retina.

Ito Mahi. Weird name, but he does have an Ice quirk. Though he's just another regular Tier – 1.

I looked at my smartwatch and confirmed that there is only 3 minutes left till the lunch break ends. Guess I gotta end this before then.

Crouching down, I stared at him.

"Tell me, Mahi-kun-" I stopped. Kun sounds weird. "Mahi. What is it that you need from me? You don't seem like a bully, they usually have lackeys… in fact, you look the opposite."

In this version of MHA – people rarely use honorifics. A cultural change I guess, though there are occasions where people do use them.

After a slight surprise – probably since I know his name – the kid glared at me but still parted his lips nonetheless. "What is your relationship with Nejire sempai!?"

...Sigh.

I flashed a smile. "Very interesting question."

I made a thinking pose. "Well, we eat together, we shower together… we sleep together… we fu-"

A punch flew towards me which I evaded by taking a step back.

"You bastard!!"

Damn, my sis sure is popular. Little boys have a crush on her.

The kid, Mahi, got up again and rushed towards me, this time all of his hair, along with his eyes, turned blue, glowing blue. Not ash-grey – like some old man.

Ice came out of his feet as he skated… almost like a professional (nice control!) and leapt towards me, his knuckles covered in spiky ice.

His fist rushed towards my face – I didn't move though.

The red, rectangular, earring in my left ear vibrated slightly – at the same time, the kid stopped in his tracks, unable to move.

"The ice-quirk user 'froze', isn't that ironic?" I crackled up, observing the kid glaring at me with a confused look on his face.

He couldn't move. Why?

Well…

[•Earring of Authority (Epic): While wearing this earring, the user can command telekinetic energy at will.

The user doesn't need to use Mana for it, as the entire earring is a mana crystal in itself – that is being used as the source for the power. Because of the property of the crystal, it wouldn't run out of Mana and would always absorb mana from the atmosphere.

Note: This is a growth-type item. The stronger the user becomes, the higher rank the earring evolves to.]

Because of this. My luckiest drop after the fruit of the god tree… I got this from a dungeon I went to just after my run-out luck returned a few weeks ago.

To compare – this is just an artefact-version of Sung Jinwoo's skill, "Ruler's Authority". I recall, it didn't need Mana as well and instead used the mana present in the atmosphere. A really interesting and useful item for me… though I need to make sure it doesn't get damaged, I am no Grid after all.

"–Cough… f- free me!"

The growling of the kid brought me back to the present, as I released the pressure around him – causing him to drop down on the ground.

He glared at me while coughing, it seemed like I accidentally pressed down on his throat. Oops–

"Your quirk…?" He coughed.

"Kind of."

I then shook my head. "Y'know, if you had just focused on our names, you'd have realised the relationship between me and Nejire…"

"What is your name?"

I blinked. "..."

What? The? Fuck?

"You mean…" I deadpanned. "You attacked me without knowing my fucking name…? Is this joke?"

I stared at his glaring face. He isn't joking.

Haiyahh… I shook my head. "Listen, kid, don't disturb me after this. And here I thought this was serious…"

I was about to turn around and leave – but a familiar voice entered my ears.

"Neji…?" A bit of surprise in the said voice caused me to turn my head to the left where Nejire was standing.

Her slightly surprised expression soon changed to a frowning one – she humphed towards me and her hand flew to my right ear as she yanked it hard.

[-1 HP!]

Whoa-!

"You brat, you're fighting on the first day of school?!" She glared at me. "Is this what our parents taught us?"

"Hey, mom said-"

"I don't want to hear any excuses! Apologise! Now!" She looked at me strictly, her hands resting on her waist.

Fucking hell? I am older than you mentall-

"Can't you hear me?"

...Fuck.

"Fine."

I looked at the kid on the floor and deadpanned for a second before flashing a smile. "Sorry for… bothering you."

Nejire narrowed her eyes. "Hm… good." She glanced at the boy and smiled apologetically. "Really sorry for my brother. Please go to the nurse's chamber, she'll help you get healed."

While the kid mumbled, 'brother', Nejire turned to me and glared at me again. "Alright, the bell's about to ring, let's go."

She yanked my arm and pulled me inside of the school since we were outside right now.

While walking and rubbing my ear, I asked her, "Hey, do you know that kid? He seemed to know you."

Nejire tilted her head and shook her head, "No, I don't think so… anyway, the bell is just about to ring!"

We continued walking just as the bell rang – meanwhile, turning my head backwards – I could see the sheer shock of the kid as he heard Nejire doesn't know him… poor guy.

To make things clear, I would not be giving my big sister to a wimp like him-… Actually, I wouldn't be fine with seeing her with anyone else…

The world around me went silent all of a sudden. My heartbeat suddenly increased.

When did I start viewing my sister in a romantic light? ...Maybe it was from the point I started my relationship with my cousin?

A thought crossed my mind-

Do I make Nejire fall for me…? It would be easy, she's just a teenager. Her feelings are everywhere, it wouldn't be that hard.

After a short silence of being pulled by Nejire, I breathed out.

No. In case she hates my approach, she would start loathing me. I know she never saw me in a romantic light before – the closest she went was avoiding eye contact with that cute and shy look on her face, but that was just having been weirded out by my sudden compliment.

That was just her teenager heart tricking her mind. But, she was back to normal now after our talk in the car this morning...

Nejire is family, I don't mind deepening that bond even more. But the only problem is… would she be fine with it?

Because if she isn't – she, mom and dad, everyone would hate me.

«—(★)—»

-6 months later-

Momo has a backstory, apparently. And it's quite… unique, I must say.

I was curious why people avoided her even though she has a great quirk and a beautiful personality.

I finally got an answer.

It seems in her past school – she was avoided because of how she uses her quirk.

At first, when she started school, many kids approached her. Being her usual self, she talked to them and acquaintanced them, but being intelligent – she could see that none of them saw her as a 'friend'. They saw her as someone superior, instead.

Like that, at the end of the first week of her first time in school, a guy who sat beside her and talked to her every now and then, thus gaining a little comfort around her, was beaten badly by some bullies.

She panicked seeing the blood. Before others could take the kid to the nurse, she decided to at least bandage his broken and severely bleeding nose.

So she tried to create some bandages and some cotton.

But since she was still young and her quirk was weak, she needed a large space of her body to create things. So… she unbuttoned her shirt and created the things needed from her chest while every other classmate of hers stared at her in disbelief.

And unlike how people would think her helping an injured person will get her friends – since all her classmates were well educated rich young masters, they found her act of stripping naked as something vulgar, instead… except one guy.

The guy who she saved was a pervert who got the best shot from his point of view. He was incited to do something to Momo by tricking her.

Luckily, since Momo is always secretly watched by her bodyguards - the said guards, realising what the boy intended to do, took him out and forced him to change his school, while keeping Momo in the dark.

They also did something that wasn't needed. They came to the school and warned everyone to not mess with Momo again while she was absent because of sickness. Since the students already found her vulgar, this caused them to avoid Momo entirely.

In fact, some even cane loathing her – it's human nature to step on a person superior to them if given the chance.

After that, Momo's self-esteem became low and she became a little introverted.

So, seeing her sitting in the back of the seat alone – the kids of the new school ignored her too, like some kind of endless cycle.

Honestly speaking, this seems like a third-class movie plot.

And all of this is more funny than sad to me. I have known Momo for 6 months in this life, but I also knew her as an anime character even before that. To think, the super genius Momo Yaoyorozu actually lacks common sense… ironic, isn't it?

As for why I know her backstory in such detail, well, it's all thanks to the girl who sits in front of her in school.

"You see what I mean?"

Currently, the same girl was sitting in the chair opposite to me, across the table. We met when I came to buy some snacks in a store nearby. It seems, she lives in the same neighbourhood as me.

She hummed. "Her parents might be rich, but they forgot to teach her manners. How can a girl be so vulgar? Ew."

Pink hair in a ponytail, wearing a revealing dress, she smiled at me while clasping her hands together.

[Image Here]



Sitting in the cafe, currently – she's trying to con me into believing Momo is trash. No, the backstory she presented doesn't seem to be a lie from her expression and body language, more so kids are easy to read.

But just because the story isn't a lie doesn't mean she is trash. I found this act cute, instead. In fact, what I find trash is what this girl is trying.

<Observe> says her name is "Sano Kameko". Meaning, Superior Child. Quite the opposite to reality.

From what I know, she's from the same school as Momo – but different class, the reason why Momo doesn't know her.

Momo is my very close friend. Lacking some common sense isn't enough to ruin that friendship. I don't like how she's trying to make me an enemy of Momo.

Fucking kid.

Fortunately, I am not interested in 12-year-olds, or this would have turned into a session of hate fuck real quick.

I flashed a smile. "You do know, Momo's my friend, right?"

She stiffened.

"O- of course. That's why I am telling you all this… I don't think being friends with such a vulgar person is good for you and your reputation." She forced a smile. "I am just worried about you, Neji-Kun."

What a bitch.

"I get it, thanks for worrying." I looked at it as a cold light flashed into my eyes. "Though if you really are worried – don't you think it's best for you to stay away from me?

She frowned after a slight shock, "...What do you mean?"

"I am talking about you. If Momo is vulgar, you're ostentatious. Trying to spread rumours about your own classmate… wait, didn't you also humiliate the guy who confessed to you 2 weeks ago? He was forced to change his school. Talk about being a bitch." I stared at her wide eyes that were gathering droplets of tears. "Momo's parents forgot to teach her common sense, but it seems your parents taught you wrong, to begin with. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all."

"Y- you–"

"Can you stop talking, please?" My face formed a disgusted look. "Your face is ugly enough to make me want to vomit, and your stinky breath isn't helping."

This was the last straw as tears started to trail down her face. She covered her mouth and stood up, making a run for the door, almost tripping twice.

As she exited, I shrugged under the gaze of the people around me.

I heard a sigh from far away. "Kids these days, falling in love, breaking up. Sigh, I used to play with legos at their age."

"..."

Anyway, the whole point of this is – I wouldn't allow anyone to trash talk on the people around me, at least not some random bitchy princess. It's her luck that she didn't talk bad about Nejire.

Looking at my hand watch, I got up and paid the bill, then left for home.

….

Amongst all this,

"Where is my mango-bar, you old man!?"

I forgot the reason why I went out. Haiyaah.

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[2 Image in this chap]