99. Acquiring A Powerful Ability from the Task Reward.
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With the ability to teleport, Kaito did manage to escape the pursuit of Hero Faction clean... Albeit with a slight problem, thanks to his bad luck. Unfortunately, when he teleported for the first time, he didn't aim for the location properly as he just thought 'far enough', and got teleported into Tokyo Bay and almost get drowned. If Kaito is just a normal human, it would be a very dangerous situation for him.
Since the hero faction obviously going to find him or even hunt him, there is no way for Kaito to go back to his own home right now. He was thinking to go back to the base world in order to hide until the situation is safe... but changed his mind quickly after remembering his own goal to obtain evil pieces within a week.
...
"Kaito, are you okay?"
Confirmed the situation is safe, Est changes back to her human form and looks at her master with worry. Right now, both of them are inside a random hotel in Tokyo, recuperating from the intense battle they had experienced earlier.
Hearing the concern, Kaito shook his head, and then pat Est's head to calm her down, "I am okay, although I admit I do feel a bit exhausted. How about you, Est?"
"I am fine, but I also need to recover my energy."
Kaito relieved after getting her answer, sit down on the bed and suggested, "Let's rest for now. I think we should be safe for now since there is no way for them to find us here easily."
To add a guarantee, Kaito also asks the system to warn him whether any hero faction member getting close to their location. It cost him a bit of points, but right now the safety obviously number one.
After hearing her master's suggestion, Est's eyes lit up, and said, "Hug..."
"Sure. Come here."
Kaito opened wide his arm, catch Est in his embrace, and then also lay down on the bed since he is also feeling quite tired, obviously.
After that, Est quickly falls asleep in Kaito's arms in a second-- making him realize that fight must be really exhausting for her. Obviously, Kaito knows there is no way he would be able to complete the task with Est's help, especially when he remembers how troublesome the True Longinus is. Because of that, Kaito decides to let her eat delicious food after she wakes up in order to express his gratitude toward Est.
'Well, I don't want to sleep yet so I guess I will open the chat group. Besides, I am curious, how did the hero faction know my information?' Kaito thought.
Kaito who can't figure out the reason for today's incident, decide to report and ask the people there. After all, there are a few people smarter than him in the chat group who surely could figure out something better than himself.
...
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[Owner]: "Good evening, everyone."
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Good morning, Master. Something is happening?"
[Scarlet Devil Headmaid]: "I also think the same."
[Mage of Exodus]: "Is there a problem with your current mission, Kaito?"
[Ohara Survivor]: +1
[Musician of Red Hair Pirate]: +1
[Baroque Works Leader]: "Just call us if you need help, Owner. Make sure you pay for the transfer cost though."
[Owner]: "...Why do you guys think like that? As if it's established I am only online in the chat group because of trouble."
...
Seeing the members' reactions, Kaito was confused as to why they assumed he only came when there was trouble with his situation. In fact, the last time he was here, he had business to test new features... although, that was also a problem, actually.
...
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Because there is no reason for the master to open the chat group within his initiative if nothing is happening... Especially when you usually won't open the chat group if you are busy doing something."
[Scarlet Devil Headmaid]: "In SAO, you barely open the chat group to play... unless there's a matter to discuss. Even Akitsu open the chat group more than you, Kaito-sama."
[Number 7 Sekirei]: "Master is lazy."
[Mage of Exodus]: "Despite being the leader of the chat group, you are also the member who opened the chat group the least, Kaito."
[Owner]: "I am sorry, I admit I do forget this chat group whenever I got busy or have something in mind."
With all the statements the girls have provided, Kaito did feel guilty about it-- making their earlier accusation have some truth to it.
[Musician of Red Hair Pirate]: "Kaito-kun is not a good leader."
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Maybe he was forgetting us and getting another girl?"
[Mage of Exodus]: "I bet he currently spends his lovely time with Est hugging on top of the bed."
[Ohara Survivor]: "Lolicon?"
[Sekirei Number 7]: "Master is bad."
[Owner]: "Stop slandering me, please."
[Mage of Exodus]: "Pffft...But it should be true. I asked the system just now."
Aika's answer genuinely shocked Kaito, since it mean she spend some point only to ask something like that. But more importantly, he realize that since she knows it, there is no reason for her to say that except to bait him.
'What a troublesome black-bellied woman' Kaito thought.
[Owner]: "You are awful, Aika..."
[Mage of Exodus]: "Pfft... You are welcome."
[Owner]: "I am not complimenting you here!"
[Queen of Sekirei]: "Master, stop flirting with another girl when you have us watching."
[Scarlet Devil Headmaid]: "Kaito-sama might need another education."
[Sekirei Number 7]: "Master, punishment?"
[Mage of Exodus]: "Look, your harem is mad at you. You should apologize to them."
[Owner]: "Uh... Can you guys be serious for a second? I admit that I am here because I was in trouble."
Since the girls probably won't stop bullying him if he keeps the topic off, he might as well admit his mistake and ask to be serious. Sure enough, the girls quickly stop doing so after hearing his request, since they know Kaito is not a person who does something without purpose.
...
[Mage of Exodus]: "Can I assume it's related to why your loli weapon girl hugged yourself? The reason I thought so is because I think it's too early for you to sleep now in your current world time."
[Owner]: "...As expected of you, Aika. Est is tired after helping me, and requested to hug me so it can't be helped."
[Mage of Exodus]: "I remember your weapon is quite powerful. To exhaust her, you should be encountered a dangerous situation?"
[Owner]: "Yeah, it was quite dangerous back then... Let me share the video of what is happening."
...
Thus, Kaito quickly asked the system to extract what happened earlier in the form of a video from his perspective, so that he wouldn't have to explain the details to the chat group members. Unlike the memories, Kaito didn't get any points from doing this, but it didn't matter since the system didn't ask him for any points either.
After that, all the members present quickly downloaded and watched the video he shared. Because the video is not that long, a few minutes later the chat group members have finished watching and commenting on what happened.
...
[Baroque Works Leader]: "Your luck is always amazing, Owner. Getting back home after so long and then getting ambushed by a terrorist group on the first day."
[Ohara Survivor]: "Pfft... As expected of the owner. I don't think any of us have such bad luck."
[Owner]: "It's not like I am asking for it... But yeah, I am quite grateful the plan at least worked despite my luck."
[Queen of Sekirei]: "...Master, you are reckless as always. Even if it's for a task, I think there is a better way to complete the task"
[Scarlet Devil Headmaid]: "Perhaps, We need to teach him personally about how to make a good decision."
[Owner]: "No, no, no, Everything was working as intended. After all, I manage to finish the task and manage to escape unscathed."
[Musician of Red Hair Pirate]: "Unscathed, since if you got hit by that spear, you probably won't talk with us right now, Kaito-kun."
[Scarlet Devil Headmaid]: "No doubt."
[Queen of Sekirei]: "I almost become a widow again, master."
[Owner]: "I am sorry... but that's the only effective plan I could think of during that time. I am truly sorry, but I promise I will always come back to the chat group."
Kaito knew that their reaction was out of concern for him, so he could only give in and apologize. To be honest, Kaito, who grew up alone, feels happy to be cared for by others... especially the chat group members who are considered like his own family.
[Queen of Sekirei]: "...Well, we can't be mad since you are still back safely and your plan is indeed a success."
[Mage of Exodus]: "Then, what is the reward? The reward must be great since you are taking such a high risk to complete it, right?"
[Owner]: "Oh damn, I forgot to check the reward!"
Seeing Aika's question, Kaito just remembered he hadn't taken the reward from the task he got-- quickly closed the group chat and navigated towards the task that had an exclamation mark on its icon.
*DING*
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[All the assigned task has been completed!]
Task Evaluation Rank Result: Perfect.
Reward: Reward: Random Ability Crystal (4-6*) (The reward becomes the highest rarity possible after getting a perfect task evaluation from the system.)
Reward After Evaluation: Random Ability 6* Crystal.
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'Perfect?! Then everything is really worth the pain!' Kaito excitedly thought.
Seeing that the reward he got was definitely 6* abilities, Kaito wasted no time in getting his reward from the inventory.
*DING*
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[Random 6* Ability Crystal has been retrieved from the inventory]
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Suddenly, a small pretty looking rainbow color crystal the size of a small pearl appeared in Kaito's palm... which was quite different from the normal one which are just plain white. Without hesitation, Kaito immediately crushed the rainbow crystal within his palm, which resulted in another ringing bell along with a notification appearing within his sight that once again, made him very excited.
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[Congratulation! Owner has received Creation Cheat (Power Evaluation * * * * * *(Special Type) as your new ability!]
[Creation Cheat (* * * * * *): An ability to create anything the user wishes. The restriction to this ability is the energy consumption, and the more complex the idea is, the more thought needed to be put into it.]
[Estimated Activation Time: 71:59:54]
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'This!! ...Should I become excited or scared of this perfect reward?'
No doubt, Kaito is genuinely happy to get such an amazing ability... since he is aware of how versatile it is to use. However, he is also pretty scared for the future since when such a good thing happens now, something terrible must be waiting to happen in the future due to his own bad luck.