NOVEL WEB Arc 1: The Meeting – Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Arc 1: The Meeting - Chapter 1
"Damn it, Nyarla! Help me out here!" I shouted at my female companion, who is clearly just playing her video game when we are in a dangerous situation.
"I'm almost done, Jin!" Nyarla shouted back, ignoring the fact that we were in a crisis right now.
Hi, the name is Sho Jin. I used to be an ordinary, normal Japanese guy that could be found anywhere on the street. Before I got hired by this shady job ad, it was mainly to take care of someone, which wasn't that hard since I babysat to take care of the elderly at the nursing home during volunteer work in the past.
The pay was decent, so it wasn't that bad, providing free housing and meals. However, the shady part is that I've to take care of a teenage girl who lives alone. Including a few weird conditions like never leaving the teenage girl alone, excluding her own private business in the bathroom, and unless told otherwise, I've to stick with her nearly 24/7.
That's Nyarla, who I'm supposed to take care of. To my disbelief, she happens to be the same Nyarla from the webtoon Crawling Dreams. But without her talking cat friend Ghast, which is actually an eldritch abomination.
The moment I stepped into Nyarla's bedroom, I knew I was tricked big time.
Sure, I had tried to leave by using the same door I came through, only to face a new reality of seeing the new surroundings, dark surroundings that were straight out of a horror film. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, or more like I had to understand that my life wouldn't be so nice and daisy. So much to my despair, I'd gone back into Nyarla's bedroom. Knowing it's pretty much almost the only safe spot.
Anyway, back to before doing this brief introduction to you, my kind, crazy voices in my head that randomly appear so often.
It has been a few hours into the job and I can now understand why I was picked out of all the people back in my world because I got nothing to lose and no one else in my life to care about on a personal level. Also, with a somewhat unstable mindset that no doubt could put me into a mental hospital; well, that if I can even afford to put myself in because no one else will pay the fee in my place.
The only thing that keeps me sane...ish. Through the power of the internet that is available for me to use in the public library and any manga I can find to read whenever I can't use the internet during my childhood before I gather enough money to buy myself a smartphone and cheap internet plan to use when I don't have access to free wifi hotspots. Later, I got a laptop, mainly for PC games I'd started getting into and watching gameplay to pass the time.
Anyway, I didn't want to lose my damn life. So that being said, something was trying to come into the bedroom after the 1st-hour mark, and I was trying to study all the random books lying around in the bedroom that happened to be either fake goods or cheats up for the taking. Yeah, I have no idea why or how; I just know that being with Nyarla is going to be a crazy ride and I need all the advantages I can get.
For example, one of the random books was glowing.
Yes, the books glow. They just do. I don't want to question it now that my life isn't normal.
Moving on. The book I was studying before was on Nen from the Hunter x Hunter.
Fun fact: Glowing books make it easier for me to learn and use anything in the books.
For example, I barely finished reading the entire book on Nen and now fully understand everything about it, including subconsciously unlocking my own Nen. Then using Ten: the process of keeping the nodes open and having aura flow through and around the body rather than away from it.
Once maintained, it creates a shroud around the user that feels similar to standing in a lukewarm, viscous fluid. Ten maintains youthful vigor and reduces aging since the energy powering the body no longer leaks away; one can keep the body from breaking down and deter the aging process. Ten is the most basic defense against emotional Nen attacks, and it also offers limited protection against physical attacks, but hardly any when said attacks are enhanced with Nen. Through frequent meditation and practice, one can improve the quality of their Ten and even maintain it in their sleep. Once it has been learned, it will never be forgotten, much like cycling and swimming. Despite being the most elementary technique of all, Ten is also one of the most important since, together with Ren, it plays an instrumental role in determining the strength and smoothness of a Nen user's aura flow.
This a good thing because I know for a fact that being with Nyarla for the rest of my life, I know I won't escape, so it is best to take advantage of what I can and just know I would look older than my age before it is a year in.
Right back to what's going on after I've finished learning Nen and being able to use Ten just by thinking about it.
Out of nowhere, the door was banged on, and I heard something growling that I couldn't recognize.
Next thing I know, I'm leaning against the door and using Ren to give me the edge to prevent the door from being open.
Ren focuses on outputting a larger amount of aura than Ten, projecting it outwards explosively. This amplifies the user's physical strength and durability and provides a large pool of aura for any advanced techniques or individual skills they decide to use, albeit at the cost of expending said aura. One can train their Ren to extend its duration and increase the amount of aura at their disposal. It is said it takes one month to prolong one's Ren outside of combat by 10 minutes. If Ten is considered purely defensive, Ren can be regarded as its offensive counterpart, although it also grants the user vastly enhanced defensive abilities. With the right timing, Ten can be used to contain the aura produced with Ren.
It has already been like 3 hours now and I'm still leaning against this door from being pushed open by whatever is banging on the other side.
The wooden door is surprisingly well made and tough because any other wooden doors would be broken by now.
Now, one must ask, why isn't Nyarla panicking or helping out?
I would love to say it's because she is used to it and the reason why she isn't helping out. She is busy playing a video game right now, which happens to be Kingdom Hearts 2 and she is in a boss battle that has been going on for a while.
You must be wondering how in the world I'm still blocking the door on my own. It's because I have been using Ren this entire time. Something I wasn't expecting to last this long and I fear I may have used up years' worth of lifespan by now. Although I don't see any parts of myself aging at all, which is great, I'm still dreading how many years I've lost in using Ren this entire time.
That said, I'm asking for Nyarla's helps because she may be a secretly overpowered person who could kill anyone around her with the snap of her fingers.
"You can pause the damn game!" I shouted at Nyarla, knowing that you could do such a thing, but that's it, just pausing and nothing else, as the player won't have access to most of the menu outside of combat.
"I can?" Nyarla looked shocked as she did so, with the screen showing the game is on pause now. "Oh, I can! If I knew, I could have just paused and gone to the bathroom instead of holding it in."
"That's great, but mind helping me now?!" I feel like crying and having to deal with this at the age of 20.
"Fine." Nyarla huffed at me, getting up and taking her damn time before she shoved me to the side and opened the door, revealing a shadowy figure that wasn't remotely humanoid, and it was just a mass of shadow made out of numerous hands.
Fuck, that better not be from Fullmetal Alchemist.
"We don't want anything you're selling." Nyarla said firmly, then shut the door on those shadow hands.
Afterward, there was no more banging.
"See, was that so hard?" Nyarla looked at me like I did something silly. Then, walk over back to where the TV is and resumes playing her video game.
I am speechless.
I open the door to see nothing there anymore.
What the fuck.
I close the door, not wanting to give any chance of anything else that might show up and take this chance to come in.
I switch Ren to Zetsu to speed up my recovery.
While Ten allows users to keep aura from leaking away from their body. Zetsu stops the flow of aura from their body altogether. By closing all of their Aura Nodes, the user is able to halt all outflow of their aura like water from a valve, making their presence much harder or even impossible to sense. Shutting off the nodes in their eyes prevents the user from being able to see aura. But, since they are no longer surrounded by their own aura, they become more sensitive to the aura of others.
Zetsu can also be used to relieve fatigue since it forces the body's external layer of aura to be fully contained within. However, for the same reason, it can be dangerous because it leaves the body defenseless against any aura attack. Even a weak attack enhanced with Nen could do massive damage. Since even the thin protection offered by Ten is gone, a Zetsu user is particularly susceptible also to hostile emotional attacks, resulting in their mind becoming as vulnerable as their body.
So the moment I feel fine again, no longer exhausted. I switch back to Ten. Because using Zetsu is a thousand times worse due to sensing so many unnatural, hostile intentions aiming at everything in this bedroom. Including me in it, but the main focus is on Nyarla. I don't know why or want to know, but because it's aiming at Nyarla. I feel the urge to train straight away.
I'm not in a hurry to develop my Nen ability just yet. So, I'll leave Hatsu alone for the time being.
I look around the ground where many glowing books are lying on the ground for the taken.
I quickly searched for one I could use, but mentally cursed that the covers are written in an unknown language I couldn't understand. Only by opening and reading it would I find out what's written in those glowing books.
In hindsight, I shouldn't have read any glowing books, but curiosity got the best of me and saved my butt.
"So, Nyarla. Do you just play video games all day?" I pick up a random glowing book, which dims down when I touch it.
Nyarla turns her head, looking at me in surprise.
"What?" I look behind me to see nothing, then turn to look back at Nyarla, who is still looking at me in surprise.
"You're still here? Most people come here for a few hours, then leave and never return." Nyarla places her controller down, gets up, walks over to me, and starts looking at me more carefully. Like if I was truly here or not. "Are you going to stay here with me?"
"Well, I got nowhere else to go to."
I would not test my luck outside this bedroom unless I had Nyarla with me.
"So, I hope you don't mind me sticking around. I'll clean up the place for you and cook." I smile at Nyarla, who tilts her head before hugging me.
"Yay! I have a roommate! We're going to be the best of best friends!" Nyarla said cheerfully, not realizing she was giving me a good feeling of her large breasts, and damn, they are big.
"Yay..." I find myself wondering if I should have tested my luck outside because at least I won't get blue balls while dealing with Nyarla.
Also, I wonder what the previous people did upon meeting Nyarla. I wouldn't put it past a few perverts who wanted to do something naughty to Nyarla, no question about it. Too bad they wouldn't get the chance to lay a finger on her since whoever was watching over her must have been ready to take care of these people before they could do anything to her.
Plus, she did mention how people only stayed here for a few hours before disappearing. I'm willing to bet it's either those shadow hands or something else that took them away before they could even scream for their life—leaving Nyarla unharmed while she gaming.
On the bright side, I have Nen and have more time to see what else I might get from these glowing books.