The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper #16 a LitRPG (ATS) Read online

  “Yep, back to the matter at hand,” Clyde said. “Ming’s going to wash up first. Could you wake Alice? If I do it, cheek poking is going to turn into… other poking.”

  Tear laughed. “That’s my baby cousin for you. Luring you in with cuteness.”

  Kitome yawned. “Clyde, did you sign up for your classes yet?” she asked in a morning voice.

  “Could you help me out?” Clyde asked. “Mortem and his bosses were the ones who chose all of my classes last semester.”

  “After the bath,” Kitome said. “…maybe after breakfast.”

  Episode 76 (Part 2)

  Tie-Avesses, Land of the Twisted…

  Venus’s Hell…

  Sol Niye Lor had at last reached his destination after nearly seven years of traveling, facing the trials and general awfulness of this realm. Seven years of being haunted by his own memories, his death and, above all, his failures.

  Soloing the stone-viper games was the first mistake and this place truly gave him some time to think, even amidst the torturous memories. The second of course was believing he had the power to take the games and make them his own. He almost resented the Bright Ones, and deep down he still did, but he couldn’t deny their aid in his escape from Nivonus, the land of Torture. He recalled their words.

  “Now that you’ve experienced a harsh lesson, you must journey back, for your destiny has only begun. We are not finished with you. Go to Tie-Avesses and use the devil queen’s scepter to respawn. Worry not, we figured Celestial assigned the Stone a task to prevent it. They will never see this method coming.” The womanly voice of the Bright One chuckled like a queen enjoying tea with a friend. “Time passes differently, remember that. What you’ve learned and experienced here will stay with you. The journey to that land will be long, but what is time to a dead man?”

  Sol’s chains vanished and all he saw were slain, bloody bodies as far as the eye could see. A freshwater lake emerged from nothingness before him. A table with fresh clothing, a backpack, a sword, and even a map resting on top, appeared.

  “The water will heal your soul,” the Bright One said. “Go bathe and change. We will not help you again. Our only loophole to do so much is that Venus illegally sent you here, rather than the default land of the dead.”

  And so Sol’s lengthy journey through Venus’s Hell began.

  Hellfire, seven years of absolute shit. They began as horrors, then he’d gotten used to them. He traveled from village to village—some of them hundreds of miles apart. Often, they were attacked by nightmarish man-eating monsters. One would think children in hell would be rare—and they were; however, there were stories of people being reverted back to their youths just to keep the population’s numbers at a certain position. And the nightmares loved to snack on them. Thanks to the Bright Ones’ blessings, Sol held the power to fight and kill the creatures. They gave up plenty of experience, random items mostly taken from their human victims, and even Hell gold which the system would automatically change into whatever Satovian currency he chose upon exiting.

  Now it was time to bust out. He figured the Stone probably claimed his territory and items, so going back would be pointless. Even with the new stats, Sol didn’t want to encounter that form of utter rage.

  Rightful rage. Sol had acted out of character, sidelined his own plans to waste time attacking Team Stone. Hellfire, he became the one thing he was taught not to become. He should’ve stuck to looting, taking down boss monsters with efficiency, and privately accomplishing the quests given to him by the Bright Ones.

  Approaching a dainty castle, Sol drew… a sword he certainly didn’t have a moment ago. The Bright Ones were definitely around… after so long. The Titanic Elderic Sword.

  Maybe seven years meant nothing to them, being unaffected by time, but to Sol, he had changed. He had plenty of time to think, whether under torture, freezing from the coldest weather, crossing through deserts of fire, or taking on the nightmares. He needed to find his own crazy form, beyond Primary Falcon Mode, although facing the Stone would still be out of the question. He had nothing to gain from it anyway. That didn’t mean he’d walk away from a rematch forever, but for now, it was not an option.

  Seven years.

  Sol took a deep breath as he walked through front gates of the beatdown palace.

  “Devil Queen Iris, show yourself!”

  Nothing happened. Sol sighed, figuring he’d have to go in there to challenge her. Abruptly, he noticed a small frame. Then saw a teary-eyed little girl peek from around the corner, only to retreat a second later.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sol said. “Who are you?”

  “Go away,” the girl said. “No bullies allowed.”

  “Where is Iris?” Sol asked as he started toward the damaged corner the kid peeked from. Hellfire, the dump of a palace looked as if it had been blasted by numerous bombs.

  “I’m warning you,” the girl said in a shaky voice, as if she was about to cry. “Turn back now.”

  Sol entered anyway. He noticed her hiding behind a large stuffed bear in a… dump. Pillars and statues were knocked over, large craters littered the main area, and the rickety throne looked to be on its last breath before it collapsed.

  “What the hellfire happened here?” Sol wondered aloud. He shook his head. “Have you lived here by yourself this entire time?”

  The kid didn’t respond, so he walked over to the throne and picked up the stuffed bear. She was a blue-skinned runt with black hair, dressed in rags, looking to be around six or seven years old. Huddled in a corner, knees to chest, the devil girl didn’t move.

  Sol looked around, wondering if he could stumble upon the scepter and then leave. A part of him felt kind of bad for the kid, living in such conditions by herself.

  “Where are your parents?” he asked.

  “Eaten,” the kid said to his surprise. Her voice came out hollow, as if the event had happened… a long time ago. “Papa was killed by the golden dragon from the sky and eaten. Mama… tried to fight it, but some kind of winged person hit her with light from the sky. Then he fed Mama to the dragon.”

  “They didn’t come after you?” Sol asked.

  The kid shook her head. “Mama made me hide,” she replied.

  No one in the realm mentioned anything about the demon queen’s passing, Sol thought. Even in a shithole like this, human towns and villages still received news from foolishly brave messengers. Did they take the scepter? There would be no way for him to respawn out of this place if so. The seven-year journey couldn’t be for naught. The Bright Ones never mentioned anything hopeless.

  “Did they…?” He froze. Wait, if her parents had died, certainly the kid would be inheriting the throne. Even if what was left of it was nothing more than trash. “You are Iris, aren’t you? Judging by the wreckage and dust accumulated… How long ago were your parents attacked?”

  “A really, really long time ago,” the kid replied.

  “So you age slowly or stopped,” Sol said, mostly to himself. “You inherited… this dump.”

  “It’s my home,” the kid said. “I…”

  “You’ve never left?” Sol said.

  The kid shook her head. “Mama said to never leave until she said I was ready,” the kid continued.

  Sol looked around, then it hit him. What the Bright Ones wanted him to do. He turned to the kid.

  “Iris, my name is Sol,” he said. He offered his hand. “Would you like the opportunity to leave this place?”

  The kid looked at him with glistening eyes. “Are you trying to trick me?”

  “Nope,” Sol said. “You’re free to stay in this boring dump forever or come to another world with me.”

  “Another world?”

  The kid’s eyes were wide, hopeful, and she already knew her answer. Sol wondered why in the hellfire the Bright Ones wanted him to take care of the young devil queen. Then again, he wasn’t in a position to ask them anything. Not while indebted to them. The dick move of making him tr
avel for seven years was undoubtably one of their lessons.

  “Yes, another world,” Sol said. “First, you must swear fidelity to the Bright Ones. Second, in order to go, we’ll need your scepter.”

  Clyde’s house…

  After Kitome showed him the ropes of how to use the academy’s website, picking and choosing courses, Clyde found out that the second half of his classes were required.

  Classes: (Year 1, 2nd Semester.)

  -Satovia History 2.

  -Romance Literature 2.

  -Sciences 2.

  -Crafting 2.

  And Natalia just had to be the homeroom teacher. He glanced at the loli pouting in front of her breakfast as Matsume ate hers with smug satisfaction. Shaking his head, Clyde finished off his orange juice. The three catgirls enjoyed their milk as usual.

  “So what’s the latest on the Crusader guy, Tear?” Clyde asked.

  “Still no definite location yet, sadly,” Tear said. “Not for the Order. We managed to get information on a secret lab Hideo apparently had in this city. If you want, I can send some of my network there to check it out. Unless you still want to do it yourself.”

  [Would you like Tear’s network to do the quest: Investigate Hideo’s secret laboratory for you?]

  “Nah, I’ll go,” Clyde said. There was no way he’d miss out on the loot they didn’t get the chance to collect after defeating that asshole.

  “There goes your one chance to sit back, relax, and be a little lazy,” Matsume said. “But I understand. If Ruri and I couldn’t go running to burn off these calories, life would suck.”

  Neko shook her head. “Nya, there’s nothing wrong with relaxing every day. You will accomplish nothing if you burn out.”

  “Of course the lazy cat would say that,” Matsume said.

  “Nya, and the dog would be more brawn than brain,” Neko retorted.

  “Knock it off, you two,” Clyde said. “Sheesh, you’d think we’d be all kumbaya and shit after the hell we went through yesterday.”

  “Kumba-what?” Tear asked.

  Clyde sighed. “Never mind. Anyway, I’m going to Hideo’s lab to see what’s inside.”

  Airi seemed as if she materialized out of nothing as she emerged from the hall. “I’m going too,” she said, excited.

  Clyde looked at Natalia, who was already midflight toward him. He caught her with a single hand.

  “We’ll check things out quickly and then go get Lilith,” Clyde said.

  “Why the pervy Supreme, husbando-onii?” Natalia said. She feebly reached for the young man’s last slice of bacon. He stuffed half of it into the loli’s mouth.

  “To help you of course,” Clyde said. He gave the now teary-eyed loli-witch a head pat. “She’s the big boss of the Monster Kingdoms and could know where to find a chimaera. Ako, do you mind joining us too?”

  The kuudere catgirl did an imitation of Chesire.

  “Nya?” she asked, tilting her head. “As you wish, Lord Stone.”

  “Clyde,” Clyde said. “No more of that—”

  “OH great big Lord Stone of the plumbers of pleasure,” Asu said, twirling into Clyde. The Stone Maidens were behind her dressed in miko outfits, getting ready to perform their daily chores and routines. Clyde figured Maki was more than grateful to have them around. Yuki had greatly lightened up on her chores with her trial only being a few days away. The young man thought about just freeing her then, after the bit with the Punishment Squad, but the women didn’t want the things ordered for that party to go to waste. They also wanted that moment to be special, a ceremony of regaining trust.

  “Good morning, Asu,” Clyde said, accepting the hug from the busty lich. As usual, he took a silent but deep whiff. She pressed her body against him.

  “The succubus queen has responded and is ready to meet with you anytime,” Asu said.

  “Perfect timing,” the young man said. “Ming, Kitome. Are you in? Or do you have other things to take care of today?”

  “I’m fine with joining,” Kitome said.

  “So am I,” Ming said. “You’ve already pre-invited me anyway.” She winked.

  “For the quest to cure Natalia, I’d really like to have you come along, Yuki,” Clyde said. “Leave the housework to the others.”

  “Let me think on that,” Yuki said. Her half-smile already pinned things toward the young man’s favor. He considered taking all of his fiancées, but decided that Harumi and Alice shouldn’t be placed into any further danger while pregnant. Sure, they were likely to get sucked into something anyway, but a trip like this was… preventable danger.

  Clyde placed the loli down. Alice dragged into the breakfast hall, dressed for the day.

  “Good morning, everyone,” she said tiredly.

  “Morning,” everyone replied.

  “Has anyone seen Ruri?” she asked. “She borrowed my shirt and never gave it back.”

  “She’s out with Ghost Princess, Pervy Android, and Strawberry Head,” Natalia said cheerfully.

  “I see,” Alice said, taking a seat at the table.

  “Melody’s supposedly bringing you that thing that you needed,” Tear said, winking.

  Alice smiled. “I love her.”

  “I can’t wait ‘til Harmony Day,” Natalia said.

  “Harmony Day? What’s that?” Clyde asked. Everyone turned to him. Stars emerged in Airi’s eyes.

  “Knowing that he’s from another world only makes him cuter,” Airi said.

  “Tsk, tsk, sit down, Clyde,” Tear said. “It’s time for some world culture lessons.”

  “Just try not to talk with your big fat boobies,” Natalia said, gaining a quick, nonchalant paper fan from Tear.

  Episode 76 (Part 3)

  Clyde heard Su Yang groan a second before Tear could begin her explanation of the Satovian holiday.

  “And why do I have to join that lich?”

  “It is because she’s the Head of the Stone Maidens,” Naoko said to Su Yang. “You are a confused soul, pinning her loyalties against the innocent for someone who casually destroys worlds because their rulers disagree with him. You were once a proper Venus sister… and all three of you betrayed the world, Celestial, and the universe. Like Celestial or not, they are still the only beings that protect and guide the souls of humanity to a peaceful afterlife. And for the scum, they get the punishing place they may have avoided during their time of living. You know this.”

  “He’s not someone who casually destroys worlds,” Su Yang said, “but I will make no excuse for that idiot. He saved many lives and you’d be wise to team up with him. Hell, he even undid his mistak—”

  A slap pulled everyone’s attentions. Tessa removed her hand from Su Yang’s face, eyes glowing with righteous fury. Her voice became a goddess chant.

  “You have hurt Venus with your stupidity,” Tessa snapped. “You think murdering someone over a disagreement, throwing a tantrum, is okay? That psychotic behavior is nothing more than a fucking ticking time bomb.” She shook her head, allowing her voice to calm to normal. “I’m Tessa, Lady Venus’s champion.”

  Su Yang’s eyes widened.

  “She told me all about you, her supposed most loyal servants, those for whom she had a place waiting in her realm.” Tessa narrowed her eyes. “Hearing you defend a man who destroyed an entire world of innocent people… hard-working men, women, children, pets, animals, ecosystems, in such a horrible manner…You’re probably beyond saving. I just hope your sisters aren’t like you. I hope they still have an ounce of humanity left within them.”

  The green-haired girl stormed out, aura jolting around her like electricity.

  “Ooh boy,” Clyde said. A drop of sweat fell from the back of his head. “We’re going to be working on her for a while.” He turned to Tear. “Give me the short version of Harmony Day. We’ve got a mad scientist’s lab to visit.”

  Tear puffed her cheeks into a pout. “Let’s not tell him, girls. He can figure it out.”

  “Fine,” Clyde said. “I
will. Later.” He grinned at their expressions. “Let’s go, let’s go. I know it sounds like I’m being pushy now, but I’ll explain the reason later. In fact, I’ll treat everyone to their favorite foods while doing so.”

  [Quest: learn about Harmony Day, one of Yaponiya’s biggest holidays, occurring at the end of Domino each year.]

  He didn’t receive the option to accept or reject, but at least it wasn’t mandatory. Not that the young man planned to go back on his word. The women were excited, especially Natalia. Domino… was basically December. The young man flinched. They were in winter. Could Harmony Day be a fucking Christmas equivalent? The excitement made sense. They really were close to that time.

  He didn’t shop in town as much as he’d like, but still didn’t notice any decorations for this holiday. On Earth, Christmas merchandise started up for sale two months in advance. Maybe there were differences… And what about other nations? Surely he couldn’t expect the entire planet to celebrate the holiday, but did they have their own variant?

  With Natalia riding his shoulders as usual, Clyde started toward the door. He activated the mini-map just for the hell of it, as well as the mental meters to destination countdown common in open world video games.

  “Clyde, I didn’t tell you the location,” Tear said. “And this isn’t the first time—”

  “Ah, let’s just go already,” Natalia whined. “No more dumb interruptions.”

  Tear was about to open her mouth to protest, but Clyde cheered, “Away!” as if he were a superhero. Natalia predictably copied him. Even Naoko, having even less of a clue about the young man’s Earthly shenanigans, joined in on the chanting.

  “We’ve got some work to do on him,” Tear said to the other women.

  Alice giggled. “Maybe. You guys have fun.”

  “You’re not coming?” Kitome asked the blonde twin-tailed half-demoness.