Encounter

It has been 5 days since Adam obtained the Chat Room

And besides occasionally chatting with the members, signing in to get points every day, going to school and interacting with Mei, his life hasn't been that eventful

After his last conversation with Mei, she started talking to him more often and begin trying to befriend him, and despite his unapproachable aura, he was thankful for the chance to make friends

Even though he doesn't show it, Adam is lonely, especially in this world full of dangers and tragedies

So he is thankful for the chance of making genuine friends, even though it won't last long and his friend will be the reason for the destruction of a city

Still, he promised Kazuma and he kept his promise and send a sword, although despite being of excellent quality and craftsmanship, it was still a normal sword

As for what his reaction was...

[Advocate of gender equality: Fuck, did you scum me bastard? This is just a normal sword!]

"Heh, it is enough for him" Adam said to himself

He contemplated robbing the ME corporation for the special honkai swords and guns that they had build like he once saw in a fan fiction, but after much contemplation, he scraped that idea

Reality was not fiction after all, although he was stronger than ordinary people, he had neither information nor training to do something as bold as robbing such a huge corporation

"When did I become like this?" Adam muttered while looking at the clouds in the sky

In his previous life, he didn't even dare to imagine robbing such a big corporation

"Was it because of my death? Or was I always like this and hid this side of myself?" Adam closed his eyes while feeling the gentle caress of the wind against his face

"It doesn't matter whether I'm a villain or a hero I guess.. In the end, as long I don't lose myself in the process then I won't question it too much" Adam sighed with emotion

There were a lot of reasons for his change, maybe his death affected him more than he thought or maybe having knowledge of the future became an unexpected curse... A lot of people say that ingorance is bliss, after all...

His previous life felt fake, and unlike Monika, he had no dreams, no ambitions, no desires... He just felt content living and doing what he loved

Why would he want to aim higher when he already lived a happy and content live? Everyone would die someday and he would die without regrets when his time came, so it didn't matter if he had little more money or had sex more times at the end

That's the reason he wanted to help Kazuma, he saw himself in him. Just two guys that were living a content yet bland life, but they got disappointed in the end and got a second chance to live.. So why not live their second live to the fullest?

*BAM*

It was at this moment that a loud sound broke Adam out of his deep daze

"Maybe a thief?" Adam muttered while walking slowly towards the sound sneakily

He was currently in his dormitory, so some other student making this sound was impossible as he was the only male living here

He reached the door, which seemed to be opened by force, and he peeked inside with his guard up and...

He saw a beautiful white haired blue eyed girl looking around the dorm

"Huh...." Adam exclaimed in a dry tone

But apparently the white haired girl heard him and turned to look at him with vigilance evident in her ocean blue eyes

"Who are you?" The white haired girl questioned him

"I live here" Adam responded in a deadpan tone once again

"Oh" The girl let out a sound while her mouth morphed into an O shape

"Ermm... Can I live here?" The girl sheepisly asked while rubbing the back of her head

Adam suddenly had an urge to tease this silly looking girl

"Well" Adam crossed his hands in front of his chest "First you have to pay for the damages you caused to the door" He said with a serious expression while pointing at the broken door

"Ah! Don't worry! How much is it?" The white haired girl cheerfully asked without any worry

"Well, the security system on that door was quite advanced so if had to speculate... I would say it is 10 million yen"

"Wha-"

"You also have to pay for emotional damage that you caused me, so that sets you up for 100 million yen" Adam finished talking with a serious face

The white haired girl's smile froze at this point

"Y-you, what e-emotional damage are you saying!?" The white haired girl questioned him with an angry voice

"Of course it's for breaking into a man's house, didn't your father teach you that it's not appropriate?" Adam said in a questioning tone

"Hmph! That stinky old man only taught me how to flirt with girls and beat boys like you" The girl pridefully said with her hands on her hips while looking at him

*GRUBLE*

"...."

The girl's entire face heated up and became red unlike her previous pale comlexion

"I-I-"

"So you are hungry?" Adam asked with an amused smile on his face

"Y-yes, I haven't eaten in a while" The girl sheepisly said while rubbing her stomach

"Haah, I see. Come with me" Adam said and turned around to leave

"Eh?" The girl was confused but still instinctively followed him without any vigilance

"I don't have ingredients to cook for two people. So it's better to go to a restaurant" Adam said while walking towards a particular restaurant he liked eating at when he didn't want to cook

And yes, he could cook. No, he wasn't as good as the 'herscher of cooking' Mei, but he was still quite decent

"Eh? Are you really taking me out to eat?" The girl asked surprised

Adam turned his head and looked at her "Of course. I'm not so heartless as to let a pretty girl starve" He finished

"Hmph! Then you should give me food everyday from now on!" The white haired girl said with a bright smile and with her hands on her hips

"Of course, I will also feed you every day from now on if you want" Adam said in his ever present serious voice

"Eh?"

"Heh, anyway. What's your name?" Adam asked

"Oh, I'm Kiana Kaslana!" The now named Kiana replied in a cheerful voice with a bright smile

Adam looked at her weirdly, because even though he knew it was her from the moment he saw her, he was still surprised that the game's protagonist was right in front of him in the flesh

It might be that he was very familiar with her... But they were getting along well even though they just met

"I see. My name Adam" He replied as they reached the restaurant and went inside

"I want a table for two people, please" He said to waitress that was standing next to the entrance

The waitress nodded at him and beckoned both of them to sit at a place that was at the back of the restaurant where they could chat unbothered

.....

...

.

Adam stared blankly at the mass of empty plates on the table as Kiana finished her last meal

"Ahh~" Kiana voiced out without any sort of embarrassment

"...."

"So, Kiana" Adam started as he got her attention "Why did you break into my dorm?" He continued with curiousity in his voice

"Well... I wanted to find a place to live in" Kiana said with an embarrassed expression

"Then why did you break into the male dormitory?"

"Hey! I thought it was abandoned, okay?!" Kiana raised her voice while pouting

"I see. Then where are your parents?" Adam asked, even though he knew the answer

"Hmph! That stinky old man left me!" Kiana said while stomping her feet on the ground below the table

"Oh? Did he leave so you could 'mature'?"

"Eh?! Are you calling me stupid?!" Kiana said in a surprised voice while tilting her head cutely

"No" Adam said "You are more like a tuna" He continued

"Who are you calling a tuna?!"

"You. Who else?"

"Damn! You jerk! And I thought you were a good guy!"

"I am only a good guy to beautiful girls" Adam said with a smile

"Hah?! Didn't you say I was a beautiful girl?" Kiana said in a confused voice

"Mhn, I said you are pretty, not beautiful" Adam said in a mocking tone

"What's the difference?!"

They continued to bicker with each... Well, more like Adam teasing Kiana and her getting irritated with him

....

...

.

"Kiana, I'm the only person living here, so you can stay in this room from now" Adam said to Kiana with a warm smile while showing her a place that she could live in, which was conviently just besides his

They returned from the restaurant, and while Adam prefered living alone, he wouldn't say no to Kiana living besides him

She is the protagonist after all, maybe some of her plot armor will affect him too and make it easier for him to survive

"Okay! Thank you Adam-senpai!" Kiana smiled cheerfully at him

Adam chuckled at her "Don't mention it"

She now began calling him senpai

Although they often bickered at the restaurant, it wasn't malicious.... No, if anything, it brought them closer because of the ease they could communicate with each other

"Anyway Kiana, you can use this money to buy food. Although you can come to my dorm if you want me to cook for you, it's still not good for a man and a woman to be alone in a room at night" Adam said while putting a marginal amount of money on the table

"Eh? Do you have any bad intentions towards me?" Kiana asked innocently while tilting her head to the side

"No, I don't. But it won't be good if someone found out, they could misunderstand us after all" Adam replied in a serious voice

"Ehh? I don't understand" Kiana scratched the back of her head in confusion

"Haah, forget it. In short, you can come to my dorm if you want me to cook for you" Adam said in exasperated

"Ah! Okay!" Kiana said with an excited smile

"Anyway, I have school tomorrow, so goodbye for now" Adam said while waving at her

"Goodbye Adam-senpai!" Kiana said while waving back at him

While going back to his own room, Adam's mood was complicated

On one hand, he was happy that he met Kiana, because nobody could hate such a cheerful girl. But on the other hand, Kiana's arrival here means that Mei's father would soon be framed and put to prison by Cocolia, which would put forth the events that would lead to the 3rd honkai eruption and then the start of the story of the game

He felt that he was unprepared, even though he was preparing all his second life a for the inevitable events that would take place in the future, he was still nervous

Of course, it wasn't as if he was under any immediate threat... After all, most threats and tragedies beyond the 3 honkai eruption are at least 3 years away

So he has a lot of time to plan, prepare, and get stronger

Adam stopped those thoughts when he reached his own room, and as he entered the place, he remembered that he needed to buy more ingredients in case that glutton Kiana was bored of eating instant noodles and came to him for food

When he thought of that, he decided to put a white sleeveless white shirt and grey pants

His muscles could still be seen underneath his clothing, even though he didn't have his new genetically modified body for more than 5 days, he made more progress working out than he did in 5 months with a normal human body

Truly, becoming a MANTIS, even a fake half-baked one, improved his body's potential by a huge margin. His muscles didn't even grow in volume, but he felt that their density has increased tremendously to a level normally impossible

Adam didn't ponder for longer, the intricacies of those things eluded him, so he didn't particularly care

....

...

.

Adam was walking back to his dormitory with grocery bags on both of his hands

When suddenly....

"HELP!" A scream of a woman sounded in his ears

Now don't get him wrong, Adam would normally ignore it and keep walking without batting an eye as it didn't particularly have anything to do with him

'It's none of my business after all... But my intuition...'

His intuition was telling him that this one was important

And no, it wasn't any supernatural instinct or something like that. It was just a gut feeling telling him that ignoring this would be a mistake

In his previous life, Adam always listened to his gut feeling and his intuition. It was something that saved him a lot of trouble and made him avoid a lot of unfavorable situations

"Haah, it doesn't matter. Let's just do my good deed for the decade" Adam voiced out to no one in particular

Adam took a turn towards the alley that he heard the scream from and walked towards it

"You bitch! You should have listened to me! Now obediently do as I say, otherwise your parents will pay!"

He saw a girl leading two guys and having them surround another girl that was on her knees on both sides

The girl who was ordering the boys had a furious expression on her face, she was pointing at the girl on her knees

"Hahaha! I think it's better for you to take a beating! Maybe you will learn your lesson then" The girl ordered the guys to beat the girl

Plop

Just as they were about to punch the girl, the boy on the right side fell unconscious

"What the-" The other boy turned his head towards the direction of his former comrade

... And saw a punch heading towards his face

"AHHH" The boy screamed as he fell to the ground

Adam has practiced martial arts since he was little, and combined with his beyond human body it was no surprise that such a result would occur

"Who the fuck are you?!" The girl said, outraged seeing someone interrupted her and how her two lackeys were beaten so easily

"Who I am doesn't matter" Adam replied to her with an nonchalant expression

"I'm warning you! My parents are high-ranking figures! If you don't leave, I will ruin you life!" The girl ignored his replied and started threatening him

Adam started walking towards her

"Heh! You are handsome! Maybe if you become my boyfriend, I will let this go!" The girl continued babbling nonsense

"I'm beautiful, so why don't you come and and lick my fe-AHHH" The girl was suddenly interrupted by a punch to the stomach

"You-"

"Get lost" Adam spoke before she could continue

"Wha-"

"Get your dogs and get lost" Adam once again interrupted mercilessly with a cold tone

The girl gritted her teeth before finally getting the boy who was awake to carry the other one and leaving

"You'll regret this!!" The girl left a final warning to him

Adam shook his head at that

'Doesn't matter, you will die in a few months time'

Adam didn't care about the girl's threat, she will die in the upcoming honkai eruption... Even if she didn't, she couldn't do anything to him anyway

He is an orphan, and he is not a normal person anymore who would get threatened by normal firearms

It's just made him realize that this is a female dominated world. Even some roles such as hooligans were reversed due to the absence of the male gender

"T-thank y-you" A girls stuttering voice brought him out of his thoughts

Adam looked at the girl, she was a girl of a modest physique with light purple hair and green eyes. To him though, compared with beauties like Kiana and Mei, she didn't look impressive

"Don't thank me, just get stronger so this doesn't again" Adam said to her in a neutral voice before turning his back on her and leaving the alley they were in

'I wonder if she is someone important' he wondered

Maybe she was one of those side characters in the game's manga that Mihoyo released on their website... Or maybe she was a character from those short stories in the game, he couldn't tell

Or she is just a random girl...

It didn't matter, he supposes. He saved her today so Adam hopes that this goodwill will keep her from becoming his enemy in the future

But now that he completed his errands, it was time to go to his dormitory

-------

AN:

If you are wondering why Kiana is so friendly to a boy she just met, this will be explained in the next chapter

Still, I'm a little worried that I didn't capture Kiana's silly and 'tuna' behavior quite accurately, so if you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!