Fantasy Realm [One Piece] [Harry Potter] [Naruto] - [Progression] [LitRPG]

Chapter 156: Goodbye x Return - Return to the Realm!

[Remaining Mission Duration: 3 hours]

Alex is pulled out of his sleep by a system notification. Three hours left? Damn, I must have slept for around nine hours. That's something new, he thinks, not used to sleeping that long anymore.

He wakes up in the enormous bed, the events of the previous night still fresh in his mind. A satisfied smile crosses his face as he thinks, That was awesome! I finally punished that arrogant woman and got my revenge! Not only that, now that I've come this far, I bet she'll be super nice to me and act like a cute girlfriend.

Getting out of bed, Alex pulls a few clothes from his inventory and gets dressed. As he stands up, a delicious smell wafts through the apartment. Curious, he stumbles through the insanely large luxurious space, searching for the kitchen.

When he finds it, he sees Menchi cooking breakfast. She's dressed casually, wearing only pants and a bra, her movements precise as she prepares the food.

"Good morning," Alex says cheerfully as he approaches her.

"Good morning," Menchi replies, her voice cold and distant.

Alex frowns, slightly confused. "Is something wrong, Menchi?"

"Oh, nothing at all..." Menchi says, her tone sweet but laced with venom. "You see, when I woke up today, I had some pain in a particular part of my body. You know, someone, for whatever reason, did this to me. But don't worry. This will not happen again, and the person responsible will pay dearly for it... over a very, very long time. You can be sure of that."

Alex gulps, a chill running down his spine. What the fuck? Cute girlfriend, my ass. She's out for revenge! Maybe I shouldn't take her with me after all... I feel like I'll regret this.

Despite Menchi's veiled threat, they sit down to eat breakfast as usual. As they talk, they both can't help but admire the apartment, its luxurious features even impressing Menchi.

They spend their remaining time visiting Liz, whom Alex tasks with managing the floor. They also invite Sua to help Liz and instruct the two of them to focus on simple, unproblematic businesses like renting out the extra rooms and unused sections of the floor.

"Use this floor to generate some income," Alex explains. "You can keep a small percentage for yourselves but save the rest for me whenever I return."

"It's a smart idea to let the floor earn money for you," Menchi comments, her mood visibly improved. "You never know when you might need it. Who knows, maybe you'll find a few more of your so-called 'treasures' if we come back here and need a lot of cash to afford them."

"Yeah, I figured it can't hurt to have some assurances. I don't need the money, but money's just a tool to get the things that truly matter to me... I hope I'll be able to explain it to you soon. Now that that's settled, we've got twenty minutes left. Let's head back to the apartment and sit on the balcony. I want to see that view one last time. Who knows when we'll be back."

They return to the large balcony inside the apartment and sit down, feeling the cool breeze on their skin as they look out at the breathtaking view of the city below.

Alex breaks the silence. "Menchi, I'm sorry for what I did last night. It was wrong of me. I suddenly had the urge to do this, seeing you trembling like that, I felt for once I should take the lead."

"Shut up," Menchi replies, cutting him off. "Don't talk about that again... Also, I didn't dislike it. Let's just say I deserved it, okay? You surprised me a little... that's all." Her face flushes slightly as she avoids his gaze.