8 Chapter 8 - The world is bigger than it seems.

Ryuu saw them logout and decided to do the same as it was already night and he still had things planned.

He felt that his whole world finally shifted even though a lingering thought that he could also be a work of fiction kind of bothered him.

'I can't believe that they are real. Who would have thought that different realities exist.' Ryuu imagined the adventure and things he wanted to experience but worried about a couple of things.

'I wonder at what point in the story did they receive the chat group?'

Ryuu pondered thinking at how depending how far they are in the story could change everything.

'Well, there's no point thinking about it.'

Ryuu laid down in his bed tired and slowly falling asleep, deciding to integrate with the skill the next day. His mind was too overwhelmed with the numerous things happening.

Morning soon came and he felt instantly energized unlike before having a sense of drowsiness when waking up. Ryuu got out of his bed before checking his phone to see if there were any new messages from the chat but they weren't any.

'I guess they're still reading. Well I should head downstairs and have breakfast after I wash my face.'

He muttered heading his way to the bathroom to freshen up himself before heading downstairs where at the dinner table was a middle aged man who had a well built body and friendly face with thick black hair and thin facial hair.

The middle aged man noticed him enter their dinner table and quickly gave a welcoming smile.

"Rise and shine kiddo! Did you like my gift? I got lucky and it was given to me by one of our customers."

He gave a short laugh looking at Ryuu who seemingly had a different air around him. The middle aged man was Ryuu's Father, Fujin Cinco. The reason for the uniqueness was due to being part Japanese and Filipino.

The obvious change was also noticed by his mother who looked at him curiously. She wondered what happened to him to emit such mature stature. Ryuu took a seat while yawning.

"Oh? You seem to have changed?"

Ryuu remained stoic hearing his father already knowing that they would be suspicious of his new personality. He normally has a bored expression but now it was more relaxed and carefree.

"Your father is right, did something happen?" His mother, Mia Cingo asked.

"Nothing, I just had a weird dream. Anyways, thanks for the new phone, dad."

Ryuu gave a sincere gratitude to his father whose smile grew wider before placing hand on his head and messing his son's hair. The dinner table was rather small, but big enough for the three of them.

"Hahaha. Glad you liked it. Just make sure to study hard cause me and your mother don't want to end up like us."

His father gave important advice to his son's who were determined to help them the best he could. Ryuu bitterly cursed since he had nearly 511 billion pesos yet unable to give them to his family.

He can't just randomly tell his parents that he won't 511 billion out of nowhere. Ryuu thought hard on how to help his parents and couldn't find a way to do it.

"I will."

Ryuu responded with a strong resolve that caused his parents to be quite proud. After a while the three had their breakfast and his father rushed to work.

"Well Honey, Son I'll be off."

He gave a kiss to his wife and a fist pump to his son before leaving the two. Ryuu saw his father disappear then turned to his mother.

"Ryuu, I'll be heading to the market. If you plan to leave, just lock the house, okay?"

His mother was someone who not only helped with the house but also worked in the market to sell meat and vegetables which only shows how horrible their situation was.

He nodded and soon saw his mother go, leaving him the only one in his house. Ryuu was laying on his bed pondering to himself looking at a small bottle.

'How should I use this cleansing pill? Swallowing it seems to be a horrible idea…'

Ryuu already read too many Chinese novels to know that having a mortal body and swallowing the pill would cause his body to explode. The best course of action is to put it into bath water to properly use it and not waste the precious properties of the pill.

'But I have [ Gluttony ], it should be fine….right?'

He thought since Gluttony would likely allow him to take the full effect of the cleansing pills without any problem.

However, the problem is that their home doesn't have a large enough basin to fit themselves nor do they have a tub. Ryuu stood up from his bed and decided to head to the market in hopes of buying a martial art booklet.

'I could rent a hotel to use their tub.'

Afterward, Ryuu took a quick shower changing into more fashionable clothes consisting of brown cargo shorts and a black shirt.

Before he left, Ryuu wrote a note for his parents to let them know he won't be coming home tonight.

He noticed something while he was walking down the street and decided to follow finding a local shop.

'That woman is not normal…'

Ryuu took a quick glimpse trying to avoid her but got close enough to see that she appeared to be a young woman in her late 20s with pale skin and dark brown eyes. Her black hair is cut in a bob with a fringe that droops slightly past her eyebrows and has a very pronounced widow's peak.

She wore a dark cloak with a white cuffed double-breasted black coat and white piping on its asymmetrical collar. The cloak has four distinct pairs of white frogs that streaked across the cloak's width.

He passed by her causing her to glances at his back before turning. Ryuu felt her gaze pondering who she was but decided to ignore for now.

Ryuu glanced as she disappeared and decided to head inside the local shop where she left to ask about her.

"Welcome to my shop, young man. What can I get you?"

The old clerk asked while Ryuu was planning on buying anything but it would be suspicious if he didn't buy anything and decided to look around.

"That's a little around 4000 pesos."

Ryuu took out 10 thousand instead of the right amount, surprising the clerk. The man grew slightly suspicious of the young man's intentions. The system was able to convert it into the right amount while also being capable of placing it into a bank account card.

"Here, I gave extra in exchange for the info about that woman." He asked curious why he had this vibe that made him drawn to her. It's clear that she is someone important and his intuition was telling him that she was destined for something.

"Is that it? I don't know why you're doing this but listen here. You don't want to get involved with her."

The clerk is genuinely concerned for Ryuu despite them being strangers. This made the young man frown then took another 10 thousands pesos that started to tempt the clerk.

"Here's another stack. Take it or leave it." He insisted while the old clerk was surprised by his eagerness and sighed.

"...Alright but don't say I didn't warn you. The woman earlier was asking a question about a recent incident regarding a frequent disappearance of young girls."

The old clerk answered worried that he accidentally involved the kid in something dangerous but he's the one who insisted and there's no one to blame but Ryuuu.

"What did you tell her?" Ryuu asked, glancing over where the woman left.

"I told her that the girl she was looking for had been with a handsome lad and that's all I know."

Ryuu's guts started to tell him that his world wasn't what it seemed. If his theory is correct then he would be able to acquire more points for the shop.

The Philippines is home for many tales and superstitions that Ryuu believed in them. Therefore, if these exist then killing them would give him more points!

"Did the woman tell you her name?" Ryuu asked for her name hoping to meet her face to face when the time comes.

"The woman is quite well known. Her name is Alexandra Trese." The old clerk quickly answered.

"Hmmm alright thank you."

He got his answer and after getting a receipt headed his way towards a hotel. Ryuu entered quite the luxurious place where many rich men and teenagers were around the plaza.

"Excuse me but can I request a room?"

Ryuu called out the receptionist who looked at him, seeing his rather poor clothes but this place was not a Xianxia novel where workers are as arrogant as the young masters.

"What kind of room would Young Sir like?" She quickly asked looking at his attire making it seem that he doesn't have any money but she didn't judge and simply worked.

"Just a room with a tub."

The receptionist nodded, offering a few rooms before giving her his card to deposit the money. Few seconds, Ryuu received a key for his room and took out 10 thousand pesos.

"Here, take it as a tip." Ryuu left before the receptionist could respond.