Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Aleph did not have any clue as to why Vill-V visited in the middle of the night. His mind was preoccupied by it. 

'Oh…'

Sakura's senses were extremely sharp. The room's state a few moments ago was hidden by some power. It also wasn't difficult to notice the hickeys on his neck.

Only when Aleph snapped out of it did Aleph notice Sakura's strange gaze.

'Things are going downhill after I took in Albion's power…'

He awkwardly tried to heal it bit-by-bit using his reversed curse technique. After a few glances, the mark disappeared.

Then, there came the next problem.

"Hm~?"

Kurumi, who was holding his pinky finger, tilted her head teasingly. She was currently wearing her black-and-white gothic dress. Her neck was half-covered by it, though the hickey was still noticeable.

'She wants this…' He thought. 'Nevermind. I'll face whatever happens next.'

"Right." Kurumi stopped walking and lightly pulled his arm at her. "Don't use your special eyes."

"Hm..?"

Her words alone gave rise to a series of doubts. Sakura, who was in front of them, grasped something.

'She knows about it. If so…'

Thinking of the mark on Kurumi's neck, she wondered whether it had something to do with Aleph having three girlfriends at once. The matter was too complicated for her.

 'Will I be able to understand it?'

The pink fox had strange thoughts. Aleph, who caught onto what was about to happen, was slowly pulled by Kurumi who went in front of him. As a result, Sakura had to hasten her steps.

True to the teachings she learned (i.e., Sphere Boundary), she easily went unnoticed.

By the time the trio descended the floor, what greeted them was a huge 'flashbang'. The loud sound of one party horn took his attention.

"Advanced happy birthday, my trusted partner!"

Under his surprised gaze, everyone was present to greet him.

*****

Aleph had been in this world for sixteen years. Nearly a year has passed since the third eruption. 

His birthday, perhaps a product of coincidence, was on the last day of the year, December 31st.

The Previous Era had a calendar system similar to Earth's, even calling each month from January to December. The only difference they held were the writing systems.

Today was December 30th.

"Well? How was it?"

Vill-V's nose pierced through the heavens. Her crossed arms added to the sentiment of her 'bragging' that was not 'bragging'.

With her help, she was able to create extremely realistic holographic images. All five senses could be passed onto the people using them, given they wore a neural chip on the surface of their necks.

It was for this exact reason that everyone close to him appeared inside Sakura's moderately big apartment. Vill-V installed the equipment needed and linked them, who should have been in other places, to here.

"Ahem."

Kevin cleared out his throat as he threw his embarrassment out of the window.

"Happy Birthday—"

He was the one who kickstarted the song. It didn't take long before nearly everyone followed suit. Only Mobius remained silent while clapping.

Once the song was finished, Vill-V brought out a huge cake and presented it in front of him. It had seventeen candles, pertaining to his current age.

"Come on. Make a wish."

"A wish…"

Aleph thought hard for a while before a smile was drawn on his lips. He blew the candles over.

Sou-!

[Achievement Obtained: A Year Further]

A prompt appeared at the exact moment he did so. He chose not to open it further and focused on the surprise that was prepared for him.

*****

"It's more luxurious this time. I could only save enough money back then to buy those tickets."

Kevin sighed as he reminisced the days of fooling around with Aleph. He held a glass of orange juice in his hands. Of course, it was purely constructed out of data.

"And you bought one that coincided with our classes. You really are asking me to cut classes with you."

With a "tsk", Aleph shook his head.

"I mean, anyone would've been moved by those tickets. It was Miss Eden we were talking about!"

"Correction. Anyone else." Aleph responded. "Oh, that's right. I am planning to bring her to this group."

"You…wha… kuf!"

Aleph's bombshell caused Kevin to choke. Despite the glass of juice not being real, the sensations simulated by it were real.

"It's enough for our group to be small, but it needs to expand a little. I am planning to bring a few people here."

Currently, the people in their small group included Elysia, Sakura, Hua, Vill-V, Mobius, Mei, and Kurumi. It was still small compared to the responsibilities they had to fulfill.

"From the things I saw, she has a good potential and character. It's just right to bring her in."

"I have a feeling you will end up in greater trouble than before."

It wasn't difficult for Aleph to see the meaning behind his words.

"You're overthinking it."

"We'll see. When the time comes, I'll be sitting on the sidelines with popcorn."

Kevin did not have many friends to open up with, more so being the same age as him.

Though he said these words, he knew that Aleph was built differently—that he could indeed handle the path he was taking.

While the two were fooling around, Elysia sat together with Sakura and Hua. 

Facing the stoic duo, she became quite clueless as to how to start a conversation. She ended up eating the sponge cake silently.

Even the invincible Miss Elysia was 'quite' helpless in the face of the expressionless duo.

"Oh, that's right! You have a sister. Right, Sakura?"

"Um. She was sleeping upstairs."

"Miss Sakura… Did your swordsmanship improve again?"

Fortunately, Elysia was still strong enough to kickstart a conversation.

While they were having a good talk, the three women who sat not far away from them were very silent.

Mobius and Mei saw the hickey on Kurumi's neck—a deliberate plan the latter formulated.

"Let us set this straight, shall we?"

Kurumi placed the teacup back on the saucer. Hers was the only real cup, while the ones on Mei and Mobius were both generated virtually.

"It is time to put an end to this farce, after all~"

"I agree."

Mei expressed her approval.

"How do you plan to do this?"

Mobius squinted her snake-like eyes.

"Well, do you have something in mind?"

"I do."

None of the three wanted to cede this time. Their biggest concession was when they agreed to take part of Aleph. At the very least, they wanted to settle these subtle fights without actually bothering him.

As such, the negotiations began.

*****

A/N: I wasn't able to write a bonus chapter during this week due to my horrid schedule at Uni. I mean, what's worse than 8AM classes? 7AM classes (*shrugs*). Anyways, Aleph is set to explore the others' environment while he carries out his Evolution Cube treatment. That should do for the worldbuilding. After that is the seventh eruption, then...

Anyways, I am wondering. Different from my previous two fics, I am planning to add lemons to this one. I am curious how many would be interested in this one. It should be longer than the usual chapters (1.5k chapters, maybe?) and should last two or so chapters for the best experience. 

Lastly, there's a bonus chapter tomorrow. I'll try to finish the bonus chapter stockpile before the end of this week.

Happy Reading~!