9 Unexpected

(A few moments later...)

Holy shit. It's 'THE DESSERT', isn't it?

IT'S REALLY, 'THE DESSERT', ISN'T IT?!?!?!!

Wait... Since Saiki is making that face while eating 'THE DESSERT'... then it must be good?

*Nom*

IT'S REALLY THAT GOOD?!?!?!

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----------(MC POV)----------

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"H#r#! H##e t## #as# #n#!" (A/N: I made it easier to read, even if you can't read it.)

The woman who is probably the character 'Saiki Kurumi' spoke, signaling for me to take the coffee jelly within her grasp.

Knowing the delicious taste of the jelly dessert, my hands instinctively seized it. The familiar taste made itself known once again, but as this was the -nth amount of time I've tasted it, my mind retained some semblance of rationality, allowing me to look around.

Gone were the bed and bookshelves for I was now in the living room, sitting on the couch with the whole family... not really. One person was missing.

Saiki's dad, Saiki Kuniharu, went out of the house in a hurry with a bunch of cash, cash that was given by Kurumi and Saiki. I didn't really think much of it.

Now it was just me, Kurumi, and Saiki here. The former sat right beside me to my left, while the latter was further away to my right.

Both people kept observing me but it wasn't too bad. I do get the feeling that they have their own little reasons for doing so, but nothing negative.

Kurumi looked like she did it out of innocent curiosity, whereas wariness and envy practically oozed out of Saiki The Psychic. Once in a while, he would stealthily wipe drool off his mouth while eyeing my food.

Heh, this food is mine and mine alone!

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While eating under their gaze, Kurumi reached for a remote before turning the TV on. A startup sound later, a live broadcast of what can only be the news appeared. Both facing the screen were two people in professional attire, occasionally glancing at the script in their hands and talking in a loud and clear voice. As they talked, a variety of images appeared.

From the pair's tone and images presented, the news didn't seem too serious. By serious, I mean things like house fires, accidents, murders, disputes... what a lovely country.

Without any indication, or at least none that I could discern, their voices took a far friendlier, more playful tone. After a bit of chatting, a video appeared, taking up the right side of the screen showing a compilation of derpy animals.

Huh, maybe this is because the world I'm in is a gag anime. Even the news is somewhat wholesome.

"A#! ###k a# ##e#! ###y #r# #o cute!"

Kurumi started squealing while watching a mother cat groom her kittens, much to my amusement. Even the TV presenters(?) had gentler expressions, often making comments that I don't understand. It only made Kurumi laugh harder though.

As for Saiki... well, he's Saiki. His attention mostly stayed on me, still displaying some wariness.

"Ms. Snow, #### a####l #### t#### i# # c#t. Cat! CA-T!"

I don't need to know Japanese to understand that you're trying to teach me the language, but it's useless for I already know it! Watching anime day and night brings some benefits after all!

"Cat."

After that, a dog running after a car appeared.

"##a#! ###t #i## t###! Cat! An# ###t #n# #s # dog! Dog! DO-G!"

"Dog."

"G##d #o#!"

Yeah, that's right. I know my Japanese animals. It's just how cultured people are.

Still, it is inconvenient not knowing the language. The language barrier wouldn't allow me to do a lot of things, even with the help of my anime knowledge. I need to fix that first and foremost.

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I continued along with Kurumi until the 'Animal Compilation' segment ended, pronouncing different animals in Japanese. The cool thing is that with my big brain, remembering this information is super easy. It wasn't like it was hard to begin with nor was there a lot of variety in the animals for mainly cats and dogs were shown, though they were all of different breeds.

After finishing my coffee jelly, I searched my pockets for my phone to access the internet and absorb some Japanese Language packs. This system function of information absorption is finally about to be used.

A good minute of fiddling around later, there was still no phone. No phone? What.

[Notice]

[The host's phone is located inside the system inventory]

'Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me.'

I forgot that I placed pretty much everything I own in my system inventory. How do I take things out again?

[The host can simply will the phone to reappear]

'Cool.'

After willing the phone to appear in my hand, it did. No theatrics or special effects or anything, it just appeared. Shame.

A bit of password-typing, swiping, and finally finding Doodle Chrome. What, you don't know what Doodle Chrome is? It's like, the fastest search engine out there, at least much faster than Outernet Explorer and FireKurama.

Pressing the search button, it didn't take a millisecond for it to display the words "No Internet" with a dark background and a little pixelated spinosaurus dinosaur.

'Bruh it says 4G right there wdym.'

As my actions weren't hidden, the two other people in the room caught sight of what I was doing.

Both Kurumi and Saiki displayed expressions of surprise, especially the latter. Now that I think about it, he hasn't spoken a word to me or to anyone ever since I've woken up. I wonder why that is?

"Ms. Snow, y## h##e p###e# #n ou##r #p#c# #s w#l#?" Since there are no subtitles in this new world, I ignored whatever it is Kurumi said. Then it finally clicked.

Oh, that's right. I'm in another world. No wait, I'll do an even better one: I'm in another country in another world. I don't know how data plans work, but I'm sure the network providers didn't take into account the fact that someone that can travel through universes would use their service.

Ugh.

Do I need to go to an internet cafe again? I should've absorbed some knowledge when I had the chance. How do I even rent a PC with no money or communication skills?

Hmm... going to an internet cafe may not be necessary. The System allows me to absorb knowledge from any form of media, meaning that it isn't restricted to computers alone. As long as it can connect to the internet, like a phone, then it will do.

Too bad my one is useless right now. I can take selfies though, so it isn't entirely useless. That's a good idea actually, taking selfies or just pictures in general in the worlds I visit.

Hmm, I can even go to a more technologically-advanced world and snag some of their stuff.

*Meow*

"Hmm?"

The soft feeling of fur brushed past my legs, accompanied by a soft meow.

'A cat is inside the house?'

*Meow*

Purring sounds continued to pop up, much louder than before. My position while sitting on the couch prevented a clear view of the cat.

"W##p! D##'# bo#h## Ms. Snow!"

Kurumi reached for the area near my feet before pulling back. In her hands was a cute little thing, a white cat fitted with a green collar.

*Meow*

"Th## i# a rea# cat, ##d h## n##e #s W#rp!"

"Wa#p, #ay hello t# Ms. Snow!"

After saying that, Kurumi grabbed one of the cat's front forelimbs and did a waving gesture. Unable to do anything, the cat could only meow. With the ever-present smile on her face, she spoke in a much higher, much gentler voice.

"Hello, Ms. Snow."

Wow.

That's cute.

And also, I understood that.

The first phrase that I can actually understand. A very simple phrase in both my original world and this new one to the point that a non-japanese like me can understand it after downing a few anime episodes.

It was just a simple greeting. Nevertheless, there was no stopping the warm feelings in my chest.

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Alas, good things don't last.

Eyes slowly narrowing, I thought to myself.

'That's Warp, isn't it?'

The cat currently being carried by Kurumi is none other than the robotic cat created by Kusuke, Saiki's weird and genius brother. While Kusuke is a big headache for our dear protagonist, he can't really be called an antagonist, even though he acts like one.

Heck, I doubt the existence of a main antagonist and even if they did exist, I'd feel sorry for them.

Saiki is just too strong.

On the same note, Kusuke is too smart AND too obsessive. Everyone else is a monkey compared to him, so I've gotta watch out for that guy. Who knows, he might already know that I'm here and plotting some kind of scheme.

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Right now, Warp looks super docile and affectionate, but I know the truth.

You can't trick these eyes of mine!

That cat is a manipulator!

It plays with your feelings as if it were a ball of yarn, making use of its cuteness to place itself as a permanent member of the Saiki Household within two episodes. With all the weird things Kusuke installed in that thing, I wouldn't be surprised to see it spewing out lasers from its ass.

Still, there is one reason I am happy to see this cat right now, even with a dangerous function like having a big, blood-sucking syringe inside its mouth. Like seriously, a blood collecting and testing function? Who would need something like that?!

Anyway, the good thing about this vampire cat appearing is because of one of Warp's built-in functions: This cat can browse the internet. Like whaaaat?

I guess good things can last after all.

Everything within the Saiki world inside that small robotic creature. All the Saiki K World exclusive memes, manga, anime, games, technology, celebrities, history, and more; I can access through that cat.

'System, how much time would it take to absorb all the information necessary to be fluent in Japanese?'

[Instantaneously]

'Awesome!'

'And how long would it take to fully comprehend that information- wait, I literally have a one million or whatever-big-number-that-was comprehension cheat. It shouldn't take too long.'

Now then, all I need to do is to slowly but surely, approach and give it a little head pat and do the absorption-

Warp unexpectedly lunged at me, leaping off of Kurumi's embrace. The abrupt movement happened during my little thinking session, successfully catching me off guard.

Unlike a normal cat, Warp moved much faster, likely due to it being a robot.

As Warp advanced closer, a sinister glint seemed to appear in its robotic eyes, before glowing a menacing red. Even when caught off guard, my mind remained unaffected due to it never being limited by the Status Limiter, allowing me to notice the most minor things.

The same couldn't be said for my restricted body.

Seeing something vs. Reacting to seeing something are two different things.

Warp continued in its flight, slowly opening its little mouth in the way. Inside it revealed something ominous, faintly gleaming.

A hidden needle peeked from within its maw, the rest of the deadly contraption further back its throat.

Somehow noticing that its 'surprise attack' had been discovered, Warp opened its jaw wider. The eyes that glowed red, blazed with greater light, casting a sinister shadow on its previously cute face. The hidden needle grew even longer, growing from the length of a person's hand to a length rivaling my whole arm.

With its needle fully exposed, Warp's trajectory, and that evil light in its eyes, I knew for sure.

That needle is aimed at my neck, and the brain inside Kusuke is more twisted than I thought.

'WHAT THE FRRRIII-'

Sensing the danger, my body finally reacted. Just before the needle could pierce through my skin, my head instinctively tilted back, followed by my left hand rising up to meet it, grabbing near the needle's tip. At the same time, my right reached for its neck, effectively choking and immobilizing the vampire-robot cat.

The sound of hard objects colliding resounded. Within my grasp was the familiar feeling of fur, but with my enhanced senses, there was no hiding the cold, metallic shell underneath.

Accompanied by its disturbing red eyes and sword-like needle coming from within its maw, it took all of my willpower to not directly Annihilate it.

Failing in whatever the hell it was trying to do, the thin needle quickly retracted and disappeared from sight. Under my watchful gaze, Warp's blazing red eyes dimmed back into a more natural black, regaining its previous beady texture.

It could do nothing but hang limp. Unlike a normal cat, it showed no signs of hurt or discomfort.

Warp looked weird in this position but still adorable, and if it weren't for the previous events and my anime knowledge, I might just adopt the thing.

"Warp!"

Behind Warp, Kurumi scooched over with a worried look on her face. Not for me, but for the murderous terminator cat. Oi, why aren't you worried about me? I almost got impaled!

Now that I think about it, Warp had its back towards Kurumi, and since the syringe was from its mouth...

'...PETA, this isn't what it looks like.'

Are you telling me, that this cat is gonna get away with an attempt at MY life with me ending up looking like the villain here?!?! Where is the justice?!?!

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[Ding!]

Combat Mastery |Rank: D --> C|

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There it is!

Whoooo... breathe.

Just breathe for a moment.

Forget the cat for now. Get your priorities straight.

'System, you know what to do.'

[Affirmative]

Massive amounts of information appeared, instinctively making me close my eyes. The writing systems, sentence structure, kanji meanings, Top 10 Recommended Isekai Novels To Read... all sorts of knowledge flowed in.

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[Ding!]

Language Mastery |Rank: E --> B|

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Sorting this information took less time than I thought, taking less than a second. In that small time frame, however, Warp had disappeared.

*Meow*

Quickly turning back, afraid of any more surprises, Warp was now being 'held' by Saiki. Huh, I forgot about him.

Warp was still hanging in the air, but instead of being choked, Warp was literally floating.

It didn't look too comfortable though since Warp was spinning like a top.

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[Ding!]

[PSI |Rank: D| Skill Successfully Obtained]

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'Woah, already? Nice.'

"Warp! Are you alright?!?!"

Kurumi passed me and stopped near the spinning Warp, failing to grab it in mid-air. She then looked at Saiki and stopped her actions, nodded her head, before rushing up to me with a face much more worried than before.

"Ms. Snow, are you okay?!?! You must have been so surprised when Warp tried to play with you."

'PLAY WITH ME?!?!'

Bewildered, I looked toward Saiki with a "tell her what happened right now" gaze. My reasoning?

Since Saiki is a literal psychic and was sitting to my right, he most likely saw what Warp just did, so why did he say that Warp was only playing?

Saiki still hasn't spoken, but that doesn't mean that he isn't communicating with his mom.

Saiki can use telepathy and is using it, judging from how there were moments of awkward silence whenever Kurumi talks to him, and because that is his main way of communication in the anime.

But, it doesn't explain why he only 'talks' to his mom and not me.

I haven't heard any kind of voice in my head unless you count the System.

'System, what is going on here?'

[One of the host's newly acquired skills, PSI Resistance, is preventing the individual, Saiki Kusuo, from telepathically communicating with the host]

[Another reason is due to one of Protogenoi-K's skill effects, TheRefuge, as it is yet to be configured by the host to allow the individual, Saiki Kusuo, to establish a telepathic bridge]

Aight. Why do I even bother trying to figure out these things by myself. Just ask the System. Duh.

With a bit of difficulty, the PSI Resistance was finally deactivated, followed by TheRefuge being adjusted to allow telepathic communication. I didn't fully turn it off since it can apparently protect me from anything.

And since it can protect me from anything and it was on the entire time... crap, now that I think about it, wasn't my whole reaction to Warp unnecessary?

Uhh...

Ehem, relying on only skills is stupid, so you know... it's better to build some uhh... practical experience.

Yep, what if a time comes when my skills suddenly stop working? Yeah, that's it. I've read about characters that don't rely on skills that can still whoop a lot of people. Yep. All for my future OPness...

"Warp, you shouldn't do something like that again! Ms. Snow doesn't know much about our planet so we shouldn't do anything unexpected and end up scaring her."

Kurumi started scolding the hovering Warp. Some of the points she raised weren't correct in any way, but since Warp is getting scolded, I might as well agree.

"That's right."

"See! Even Ms. Snow agrees with me- wait you can speak Japanese?!?!"

Well, no need to hide that I can talk Nihongo.

"Yep."

One word, but it was enough to awaken some sort of demon hidden within her body all this time. With stars in Kurumi's eyes, she threw question after question without a chance for me to reply.

"What is your name?" "What planet did you come from?" "Why did you come to Earth?" "Are there more of your kind coming to 'visit' us?" "Were you able to speak Japanese from the start? If that was the case, then why didn't you say anything?"

...were not the questions she asked.

Due to my incredible mind enhancement, all my previous interactions with the family can still be remembered perfectly well even if I couldn't understand them.

When I absorbed some Japanese knowledge from the internet, I finally understood what they said and now know that they think I'm an alien. Since I'm an alien, you should ask me the previous questions above, right?

If it was me talking to an alien that can speak my language and a known sweet addict, then I would ask them those questions as a precaution, giving them sweets as long as they answer. Such information would be useful to know.

But no.

"Did you like the coffee jelly we gave you? It's reeeaaally good right?" "I saw you fiddling with a phone earlier, so do aliens have phones as well?" "If phones exist in outer space then does TV too? And if TV exists then do space cat videos exist too?!?! DO SPACE CATS EXIST?!?!" "Can we... touch fingertips?"

Haha.

I'd like to hide in a hole now.

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[Notice]

[The System has detected the use of PSI-related skills from the known individual, Saiki Kusuo]

[Allow the individual to affect you, the host?]

<Yes/No>

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Hmm... does he want to have a little chat now that he knows that communication is possible?

With the notice from the System, I sent Saiki a questioning gaze. As if sensing it, he looked back with narrowed eyes on his blank expression, but he soon averted his gaze.

'System, is he dangerous to me?'

[Not at all]

As expected, I am still pretty OP. In terms of OPness, I have the high ground.

'Welp, since we have our answer, might as well hear him out. I needed to talk to him anyway.'

Choosing <Yes>, a supernatural force seemed to drag me along. This force was familiar, similar to the feeling of my manipulation of space to teleport inside my room, except that it was rougher, filled with minuscule, yet numerous flaws, creating turbulence.

The difference between the two was like sailing a boat through rough seas versus staying at home on a hot, sunny day, sleeping comfortably on the highest quality bed mattress with the air conditioning on.

'What a bad comparison. Anyway, my space powers are definitely better than his. Definitely can't underestimate |Rank XX| skills.'

With those thoughts, we both disappeared into another land.

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(????, in the country of ?????)

A barren land untouched by civilization. Red and weathered rocks were all there was to see, contrasting the clear blue skies above.

Small rocks, big rocks, pebbles, boulders, jagged rocks, spherical rocks. A bunch of rocks everywhere. Even the land was basically a flat, leveled rock filled with cracks.

Dust flew with the smallest breeze, deepening my understanding of how deserted this place truly is.

{This is my secret spot. No one can disturb us here.}

Secret spot? No wonder.

Behind me stood the one who brought me here, an "average high schooler". Perhaps he can be considered average in this world's standard with his dark pink hair and antennas, but that's only because he influenced the world to think this way.

The world wasn't ready to accept him, a psychic of unparalleled power. Instead of changing himself, however, he played the DOS reverse card and changed everyone else.

In a good way, of course.

{Why did you come here? It couldn't have been for a simple reason like 'having fun', right?}

"...would you believe me if that was one of them?"

Dang, has he read my mind already? That is one of the reasons why I came here.

Psychics sure are scary.

{Then, there are more reasons?}

Saiki appeared to be reflecting on my words, his brows furrowing slightly as time went on.

{Good grief.}

Woah, he said his catchphrase.

{Are you here to destroy the world? Experiment on cows? Create some Cosmic Empire? Maybe even enslave the human race-}

Dang, seems like aliens have a bad reputation.

I come in peace and also to get your powers, but in a peaceful way!

"No no no, none of those things. I don't like unnecessary trouble."

{You don't like unnecessary trouble as well? That's good.}

{Really good...}

He continued, his voice much lower than before.

{...if it weren't for the fact that you did bring trouble.}

Huh?

{That landing of yours sure hurt.} he continued. {I haven't felt that much pain since, well, ever.}

Hold your horses.

'What landing, and why did it hurt- actually, how did YOU get hurt?'

Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he said.

{You don't remember?}

My mind wandered in search of answers. In the end I could only stand still, not knowing what to say.

{Well, if you don't know and if you didn't mean it...}

A small pause, followed by a small declaration.

{All you need to know now is that you owe me.}

"Wait, I still don't know what you're talking about?"

'Don't just say stuff like that without properly explaining things!'

Saiki paid no heed to my perplexed words.

{You've said it yourself, you don't like unnecessary trouble.}

{Now I'm letting you know that I don't like ANY kind of trouble. None at all.}

As if remembering something unpleasant, his blank face started to morph into a frown, clearly annoyed.

{But you brought trouble to not only me but many other people, trouble that I had no choice but to interfere in.}

Yo dude, chill out and tell me what's up first and foremost. Context people. CONTEXT.

"Can you explain to me what exactly happened-"

{Besides, you ate my coffee jelly.}

How is that part of this talk of ours?!?!

Actually explain something!

{You caused me trouble, yet you still get to eat my food, food that I've been saving for the weekends: This weekend.}

{Sharing food is... tolerable. The bad thing is that you ate most of it, even giving me a stupid smirk as you did.}

{Adding those things... I guess you owe me quite a lot now.}

...This is about the coffee jelly isn't it?!?! He's doing this because of coffee jelly.

As for me smirking, let's forget that part.

"OI! I might owe you or whatever, but if you don't explain to me anything then I'll just leave!"

{...How troublesome, but fine.}

Damn it! Damn you!

System, you didn't warn me about how annoying this guy is! Where did comedy Saiki go?!?!

I should've kept my PSI Resistance running!

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[Notice]

[The System has detected the use of PSI-related skills from the known individual, Saiki Kusuo]

[Allow the individual to affect you, the host?]

<Yes/No>

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'Let's see what this is all about.'

I still need to talk to him about my main reason for going here. I don't wanna waste too much time doing something like 'repaying' him for whatever reason, so lets get this over with.

Mentally screaming <Yes>, images started pouring in.

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[Ding!]

PSI Skill |Rank: D --> S|

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Boo!