[Lockpicker Quest Completed]
[Choose your prize.]
[Skill: Soul Needle] [Stats: +2 to all Stats] [Cosmetic: Ahoge]
[New Lockpicker Quest: Unlock a secret in a dungeon.]
I had completed the quest? How? I did not think that I had fulfilled the criteria at all. I was supposed to unlock the door to someone’s heart. At first, I assumed that meant making someone fall in love with me. Looking at Penrin, I could tell she had zero romantic feelings for me whatsoever, and I wanted to keep it that way.
But somehow, she had helped me complete the quest. Thinking on it, I realised I was wrong in the assumption that I made. The quest wasn’t about love or romance. After Penrin’s incident, she had likely shut her heart towards others. She became closed off and did not carelessly reveal her true self anymore. That was to be expected, of course. She was abandoned by someone she loved. No one would trust another so easily after being betrayed like that.
By befriending her, I had opened her heart once more. That was the manner by which the quest had completed itself. It was unexpected, but I wasn’t complaining.
The new quest worried me though. The only dungeons I knew of were the naughty kind, and I didn’t want to unlock any secrets inside of them.
“Can I ask you a question, Yarm?” asked Penrin.
Choosing the reward for the quest would have to wait till later. “Of course you can.”
“How did you knock the duke out without lowering his HP? Was it a skill? A title?”
“I just sang him a lullaby,” I joked.
“And that made him fall asleep? Incredible.” Penrin took my joke seriously.
“I’m only kidding. The real answer is acupuncture. Every living creature has pressure points all over their body. By piercing these pressure points with my needles, I can cause certain effects to happen. The pressure point I aimed at is called the Life Pond; it’s on the Appendix Meridian. Needling that point will put someone to sleep. Great for insomniacs.”
She looked at me sceptically. She didn’t seem to fully grasp my explanation. “So, is that a skill or a title?”
“Neither. It has nothing to do with the System. It’s knowledge from my previous world, Earth. Amazing, right?”
“I suppose,” Penrin said.
“What’s with the lack of enthusiasm? Would it be more amazing if I had told you the System gave me the power?”
“Yeah, kind of,” she answered bluntly.
“Why? Isn’t it more impressive that I can do it without the System?”
“You can technically do anything without the System, but everything is better with it. For example, a person with the Baker title will make better bread than someone who just has knowledge on the topic. It doesn’t matter if they train their whole lives to become the best baker, they’ll still make worse bread if they don’t have the title.”
“That’s sort of sad. If you have a dream, you can’t achieve it unless permitted by the System?”
“Are things different in your world?”
“Yes! Completely different. On Earth, there’s no System telling you what you can or can’t be. You can do anything as long as you set your mind to it.” My eyes glanced up. “Well, unless you’re short, then you can’t become a basketball player. But that’s the only exception.” My eyes glanced to the side. “And also, you can’t become a pilot if you’re colourblind. And I guess you can’t become a sumo wrestler if you’re a woman. That’s a 50% chance of failure from the get-go. Actually, forget what I said, this world isn’t so different from Earth after all.”
Penrin raised one eyebrow and lowered the other. “Ok.”
I slapped my knees and got up from my cushioned seat. “Anyway, join my party and let’s cooperate to make this world a better place, tomorrow.”
Penrin still looked like she was unsure of whether that was something she wanted to do. But she didn’t refuse. “Alright, send me the party invite.”
I opened my System and started pressing some buttons. After clicking around, I asked, “Did you get the invitation.”
She tilted her head. “No. I didn’t.”
I started pressing some more buttons. “Alright, what about now?”
“Still nope.”
I pressed buttons at double the speed and double the randomness.
“You don’t know how to send an invite, do you?” Penrin said with an unimpressed look on her face.
“Busted.”
[Penrin has requested to join your party.]
I accepted her request and then navigated to the party menu.
[Party (4)]
[Yarm (15), Mimic (8), Newmill (9), Penrin (28)]
“Yarm, why is there a mimic in your party?” Penrin calmly asked.
“Is there something wrong with that?”
“Of course there’s something wrong with that! I don’t want to be anywhere near a giant chest monster.”
“Giant chest?” I paused for thought. “Ah, I see. Don’t worry, little Penrin. There’s no need to envy large chests. Your body is perfect as is.” I gave the child a reassuring double thumbs up. I wasn’t about to let body dysmorphia occur on my watch. For some reason, I received a kick to my shin.
Penrin and I exited the carriage. Frome was waiting patiently for us outside. “Did you two have fun?” she asked.
“What fun is there to be had without you, Ms Frome?” I said.
Frome ruffled my hair. “Such a little charmer.”
I was already bad at flirting, but this body made my attempts fail even worse. If only I could get the Adult title so I wasn’t constantly belittled and treated like a child.
Penrin scoffed and returned to her home. When I was alone with Frome, I really wanted to ask her on a date. Her beauty had intoxicated me for so long now. I wanted to express my feelings of affection for her, though I knew it would not work.
“Would you like to take the carriage home?” asked Frome.
The cranky carriage driver yelled, “No way! I’m done driving tonight. I’m going home.”
“Guess I’ll walk it back.” I set off in the direction of the Earthling headquarters.
“Allow me to accompany you.” Frome walked alongside me.
“Oh, there’s no need.” I tried to politely reject her. I didn’t want to inconvenience her, since it was already late. I was sure she wanted to rest after such an eventful soiree.
“I insist. I couldn’t possibly allow a child to walk home alone, at night.”
Wasn’t it meant to be the man’s duty to walk the woman home? I felt somewhat emasculated.
“Come along, hold my hand.” Without asking, Frome gripped my hand while walking by my side.
“Wait, stop!”
“Don’t make a fuss. It’s only natural for an adult like me to make sure a child like you is safe.”
That was the type of line that I had been using on others. I never expected to be on the receiving end of it. This was surreal. I was holding hands with a 52-year-old beauty, but I couldn’t enjoy it because she saw me as nothing more than a boy. I was romantically attracted to her, whereas she was maternally affectionate towards me. She had no clue about my true feelings. At that moment, I made a decision. I had to do whatever it took to regain my adult body.
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