After emptying my balls into Zoey, I do what any self-respecting, arrogant bastard would do and tell her to clean herself up while leaving her on the floor with my cum leaking out of her. Of course, I make sure to dig through her clothes to find her phone so I can snag her number before I leave for when I need to make a booty call or something.
Nothing more to do, I left the mall and tried to walk back home…
Then I called a ride home.
I figured I could just backtrack to get back home but I was more turned around than I thought. It was embarrassing after having refused a ride when leaving the house. But at least some good came out of it.
After leaving Zoey, a screen popped-up in front of me.
Individual – Zoey Herris – has had their fate influenced and altered by Invader.
Reward: 50 DP
Earning some DP took some of the sting of embarrassment out of the situation. Though, I was bummed by the amount. Was fifty DP all I my effort was worth?
But then I considered how: A) Zoey isn't an important character and B) all I did was fuck her and strong arm her into working for me in the first step of my half-baked taking over the world plan. These rewards are largely based on my achievements and deviating the original plot.
I didn't really change anything yet and fucking Zoey…Pleased as I am, I don't really consider it an achievement. Hentai logic or not, the girl was pretty easy.
Once I'm back at the hotel, I tell the people waiting I'll be having lunch in my room and make my way back. The sooner I start practicing to harness Layfon's magical energy, the better.
Closing the door behind me, Alice appears. "Did you have an eventful excursion?"
I shrug. "Don't know about eventful, but it was certainly enjoyable." I then walk past her and take position in a space behind the couch. I begin taking deep breaths, holding them, and slowly letting them out. If I'm going to find my magical energy, I need to first clear my mind.
"Yes, Zoey Herris. An unfortunate, but inconsequential girl. What exactly is it that you have planned for her?"
Of course, the Attendant tied to the system would know what happened. In, hold, out… "Not sure yet. Kinda making this up as I go." In. "But what I do have," hold, "I'll need subordinates." Out. "People who can operate freely and that I can use to distance myself from this or that. I figure Zoey will make for a good sexy assistant." In.
"Hmm," Alice considers what I say with a finger against her lip.
Hold.
"Plausible. Though future events are subject to change and you should beware of the butterfly effect, Zoey's inconsequential status in the grand scheme of things would lend to her being an ideal agent for discretion."
Out.
I take a moment to understand what Alice means. "So, an extra is still an extra. But how events unfold can change that so she becomes important enough for the main characters to take notice of her and – by extension – me."
"Correct."
… "Meh," I shrug. "Sounds like it'll make things more complicated than it needs to be. I'll just play it by ear and keep an eye out. If Zoey has some sort of plot invisibility shield, great. But I'm not going to worry about it."
I think I'm starting to feel something. I've spent my whole life as a regular person, so sensing something that should be 'unlike anything I've felt before' shouldn't be too hard. It's supposed to fill and flow throughout my body. So, maybe yoga or whatever will help. I don't know yoga, but I know some stretches.
Shaking my limbs, I get ready to start while maintaining my breathing. That's when Alice decides to ask, "Host? May I ask a question?"
I breath in, hold it, and twist my body to one side for ten seconds. "What?"
I breath out as Alice asks, "You called for a ride back here because you couldn't find your way back, correct?"
I untwist my body as I frown at being reminded of my embarrassment. "Yeah," I confirm before breathing in and twisting the other way.
"Couldn't you have used the Home Stone for that exact reason? Not like you have much use for it otherwise right now."
Holding my position and my breath for ten seconds, I quickly consider what she said – glancing at my Inventory to confirm I do in fact have the stone. Untwisting and facing forward, I exhale. "Maybe, but then how do you explain how I got back into the house? It would look strange and reveal myself as Invader." Now I stretch my arms; breath in…
"I suppose that's true…But, then why didn't you use your phone?"
Hold- Wait. What? "What do you mean?"
"Couldn't you have just accessed the Map App in your phone. Surely, Layfon had his address saved in his phone. You could have just selected it and followed the offered route. Even if he didn't, you could have searched for Drogo residences and put in the address."
My arm bent behind my head, I pause. I don't even have to think about it before I know the answer is 'Yes, Layfon does have his address programmed into his phone.'
I stare at Alice blankly while she waits for my answer…
"…Shut up."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
An hour or two pass and I fail to feel anything.
No magic. No mysterious power. Nothing.
I only stop once lunch rolls around and I hear a knock at my door.
Alice blinks out of existence while I walk over to answer it to find some servants pushing in a cart of food. I shoo them off and tell them I'll leave the cart outside my room when I'm finished. They bowed to leave, but then I had an idea and stopped them.
Since I'm having so much trouble sensing my own magical power, I'll do things the old-fashioned way.
I ask that magic stones be delivered to my room. Hopefully, ingesting some will help me get a feel for the energy. Probably won't find the activity of swallowing small rocks all that enjoyable, but I'd have to get around to it eventually to increase my power…Maybe…Not sure how this whole Invader things ties into that yet.
Now left alone with the food cart, Alice reappears and I decide to take a break.
Getting behind the cart, I begin pushing it toward the built in kitchen area.
Alice decides to help me by getting the door.
Pushing the cart through, I look around the room for somewhere to sit. There isn't really a place. It's a fancy enough space with white floors and silver everything all around. But it isn't really equipped for dining. Guess Layfon never cared for eating in his room or limited it to catered parties.
"Here you go," Alice suddenly said – drawing my attention. She proceeded to pull out two stools situated under one of the counters. She continues to pull out the other one while I bring over the cart.
If I had to guess, these are for whoever works the kitchen to sit down for a rest or maybe have a little snack of their own without disturbing the guests.
Oh, well. I end up pulling out the five plates of food that was brought to me. It's a lot and I doubt I'll eat it all, but I have a fridge I can toss the extra in. No one's watching me hear, so I don't have to waste any of it. There should be plates I can move the food to so the count doesn't change.
I take my seat and start eating while Alice takes the seat next to me.
I bite into some sort of chicken wrap ("Oh my fuck is it good!") when Alice decides to speak up, "Would you like to discuss your next course of action?"
"Hmm," I hum questioningly with a mouthful of chicken goodness.
"Earlier, you said you had not worked out what to do next. Perhaps it would be easier if you discussed them? Talking your plans aloud can help in organizing and working through ideas."
Shrugging, I swallow before replying, "There's not much to discuss right now." Munch.
"There isn't?"
Swallow. "No. I can only approach things one at a time. I'm the type to trip over my own feet if I try getting too far ahead of myself. The first thing is dealing with the first arc of the story with the Toxic Reapers. I'm planning to weasel my way in and try to take them over. I have a plan for that, but I need them to get the ball rolling. I figure – unless an opportunity arrives early – I need to wait until the story begins."
"What if an opportunity does not present itself? What will you do until then?"
Chew. Swallow. "Well, first I need power of my own. So, I'm trying to get a handle on Layfon's power, but so far I'm having no luck. You wouldn't have any tips, would you?"
As I glance over for her response, Alice just shakes her head slowly. "Unfortunately, no."
Taking another bite in frustration, I talk around my food. "Great. I was hoping that since he has so much power to begin with I'd be able to feel it more easily."
"That wouldn't be as easy as you think," Alice explained. "While it is true that magical energy is something distinct that a novice such as yourself would find easier to sense, you are trying to do so with a body that has already acclimated to that energy."
A few moments pass as I process what Alice said. I finish my chicken meal and move on to some sort of sausage and rice thing. Usually not big on rice, but I admit, this stuffs not bad. It's got a flavor to it that is distinctly 'not rice' in my book. Maybe it was soaked in some sort of broth? Whatever.
"So…what you're saying is…I thought it would be easy. Like trying to figure out what something is while blindfolded. But actually, I'm blind folded and can't actually touch the thing to get a feel for what it looks like."
"A rough estimation, but yes."
"Wonderful."
A quite enveloped us as I continued eating and Alice sat at my side. I finished my sausage and rice and managed to eat some of the fruit bowl that followed before I was full.
Needing to hide the evidence, I get up to go looking for some dishes to transfer the left overs to so there will be the same number of plates on the cart and I don't reveal anything that I'm not Layfon who would toss perfectly good food out for no reason.
As I'm finishing up putting what's left onto new plates and stashing them into the fridge, I barely notice Alice perk up from her seat. "What's up," I offhandedly asked.
"It would seem that Vee has returned to the Dungeon."
This startles me. "She has!?"
Alice nods. "And, she is not alone. There are two others with her. It seems you may have your opportunity to make contact with them sooner than later."
Motivated to observe this attempt to invade my Dungeon, I quickly put everything into the fridge. I then hurry back to the food cart to get it out of the kitchen and out of my room. I briefly stop at the door to calm myself on the off chance that anyone is outside.
I open the door and push out the cart.
Gently closing the door, I go back to being eager and hurry over to the couch – ignoring how Alice is already in position waiting for me to begin.
Plopping myself down, I summon my DC. However, as I'm about to turn on the TV, I stop.
I look to Alice. "There's no way for them to know we're watching them, right?"
"No. The System and all things connected to it exist independently of the mystical forces of this world. While certain things such as items can be traced back to the Dungeon itself, it cannot be connected to you in any way, shape, or form. If such a thing were possible, it would be limited to Level twelve or Rank EX individuals. Even then, their awareness would be limited."
"Got it. Almost guaranteed, but watch out for the big players." That said, I press on the invader logo to activate the DC and my TV.
Immediately, the TV turns on and the interface pulls up with a holographic display of the Dungeon. However, one thing is different. The display has the second room flashing red.
I open my mouth to ask but Alice seems to anticipate my question. "Yes, the flashing section indicates the presence of intruders."
Nodding, I manipulate the interface through the DC and check out the second room.
The screen changes to give me a view of what's going on and I see Gloria, Vee, and Cole.
Gloria with her stupid coat that hangs off her shoulders but never seems to fall off.
Cole being an absolute TRAP.
Vee being hot as ever and still wearing the stocking that had been torn up during her last visit.
Looks like they already wiped out the units I had stationed in the room.
I was going to ask about the audio, but before I can, I can hear Gloria's voice through the TV's speakers.
"Vee, are you really telling me that these…things managed to injure you? You're losing your edge."
"Hey," Vee snapped back, "it wasn't these things. If they're back, then I'm betting the next room is back too. So, there'll probably be two of the dame things hiding to ambush us."
"But your sure that these…whatever they are repopulated in the time since you were here yesterday?"
"Yeah. Same number and everything."
"So, they can respawn," Cole asks.
""Shut up loser,"" Vee and Gloria chastise.
"You said you got as far as the next room and that's where you found those trinkets?"
"That's right."
"Hmm…Let's go. We'll check out the next room and then decide our course of action."
Gloria then pushed Cole to lead the way while she and Vee followed.
"What do you think," Alice asked me.
"Hmm, not sure…I don't think the Dungeon is strong enough to stop them, but it'll be interesting to see what these guys can do."
"Should I get popcorn?"