NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 163: Shopping Trip from Hell!
Alex stumbles into the living room and collapses onto the couch, still feeling dazed and drained from the insanity of last night's events.
He grabs his phone and starts replying to the numerous texts his parents sent him. Using vague replies and a generous helping of white lies, Alex does his best to answer their questions without raising any suspicions.
As he sits there, he catches the scent of something cooking in the kitchen. Curious, Alex drags himself to investigate, only to find Menchi, now wearing some of Tereza's clothes, which are a bit too big for her, cooking up a small breakfast.
"Alex, you really need to change your eating habits," Menchi begins, her tone scolding but lighthearted. "Your parents barely brought you any healthy groceries—probably because they know how awful your diet is. We desperately need to go shopping. A balanced diet is vital! Even with your system, you'd benefit a lot from maintaining a healthy body. Trust me on this."
"... I agree," Alex says, still too frazzled to argue. After last night, THIS is what you decide to talk to me about? Crazy woman… Not that she's wrong… but still… PRIORITIES!
"Anyway," Menchi continues, unfazed by Alex's tone, "I'm only preparing a few eggs for now. We can eat them alongside the bread and cold cuts your parents brought over. Oh, and I made a few toasts since you at least have some honey, jam, and this weird thing called Nutella. I tasted it, it's very sweet. I like it!"
"Thank you," Alex replies, rubbing his temples. "You'll probably like a lot of the sweet junk food they sell here. Anyway, I need to return to the Realm at some point, but I guess we have enough time to go shopping first. I didn't buy a new car yet, but my old one is still parked in the garage. It's good enough for basic errands, especially since we have the system and can store items easily."
Tereza enters the kitchen a moment later, wrapping her arms around Menchi from behind and kissing her neck. "Thank you for preparing breakfast, sweetie."
"No problem," Menchi replies, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.
A few minutes later, the three of them sit around the dining table, quietly enjoying breakfast.
"You… I think we need to have a conversation," Alex finally says, deciding to address the elephant in the room.
"Alex, calm down. You need to stop being so serious and getting embarrassed so easily," Tereza responds with a teasing smirk. "Although… I do think that shyness of yours makes you even more worth eating up." She giggles a little.
"Tereza's right," Menchi adds, chiming in with her trademark grin. "Calm down, my shy student. We're just having a bit of fun! Look, not only your life but my own is on the line as well. If you die, I'll cease to exist, too. We're not neglecting the Realm or our responsibilities—but it doesn't hurt to enjoy ourselves here and there. And don't even try to tell me you didn't enjoy it." She leans in closer and smirks. "We wouldn't dare neglect you, would we, Tereza?"
"Never," Tereza replies, her voice dripping with mock seriousness as she takes another bite of toast.
Alex sighs, trying to regain control of the conversation. "I think after I smacked your ass, I graduated from being your stu—"
Before Alex can finish, Menchi's aura flares violently, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"... Never mind," Alex mutters, immediately backing down.
"Oh, you did what? Didn't expect you to have it in you! Not bad. I hope you didn't hurt my sweet Menchi, or I'll have to even things out in the name of justice," Tereza jokes.
"Fine, so anyway… let's go shopping. Menchi needs a bunch of clothes that actually fit her! I didn't expect that, despite her body, your clothes would still be a bit too large for her," Alex comments.
"Menchi's body is perfect like that. I'm a bit older than her; in a few years, she's bound to become even sexier and fill out a little more," Tereza adds while Menchi nods in approval.
The group finishes eating, cleans up the mess, per Menchi's direct orders, and makes their way down to Alex's small car. Tereza immediately starts giggling the moment she sees it.
"I wasn't rich before! There was no point in buying an expensive car when I had to park it on the main street in front of my small place. Besides, it's reliable," Alex defends himself.
"It's fine, Alex. It would indeed be wasteful to spend money on a car you don't need or even want. It's just kinda cute," Tereza says, agreeing with him but clearly still amused.
Menchi climbs into the backseat while Tereza sits up front next to Alex.
Alex drives the group slowly but steadily toward the city center. The trip is thankfully short.
"As usual, Alex, you drive like a total pussy," Tereza comments, smirking.
"First of all, this is not The Purge. Secondly, I don't want to get a ticket. And even if I did speed, we'd only save a minute! What would we do if we got stopped by the cops? Menchi doesn't even have an ID!" Alex replies, keeping his eyes on the road.
Menchi, meanwhile, stares out the window curiously, taking in her surroundings.
"You're right, good citizen. Always obey the law and don't ask questions," Tereza chirps sarcastically.
"Now you're just being silly. Never mind, we're nearly there," Alex says, already tempted to turn around and drive back home.
After about five minutes, Alex parks inside the parking garage of a medium-sized shopping center. The mall is compact but packed with a variety of stores.
"This place doesn't have much in terms of food," Alex explains as they walk inside, "but we can drive to a nearby grocery store afterward. For now, we can get everything else we need here. I brought my cards, so Menchi, feel free to spend as much as you want. Buy clothes, cooking supplies, like knives, pans, pots, whatever you need. You've seen my kitchen… it's pretty bare, I admit."
"Sounds good to me!" Menchi replies enthusiastically.
What follows is, in Alex's mind, nothing short of torture. After experiencing the worst movie experience of his life, he now endures the ultimate shopping nightmare.
Tereza and Menchi are relentless, buying anything they're even remotely interested in. Meanwhile, Alex is constantly tasked with hauling their purchases to a deserted corner, storing them in his inventory, and then using En to quickly find the two women again.
Three painful hours later, the three are sitting on a bench, eating ice cream. Alex slouches deep into the bench, holding his ice cream cone limply in front of him.
Menchi, without asking, leans over and licks a bit of his cone, analyzing the flavor.
"This is not bad at all! Italian, huh? Is that some special method?"
"Italy is a country, Menchi. Their ice cream is famous, though nothing is as sweet as you," Tereza explains with a wink.
"Okay, that's it. That's as much as I can handle. I'd like to leave… NOW! We still have to buy the actual food, and judging by your ridiculously slow pace, that's going to take forever too," Alex announces, his patience finally snapping.
"Fine, I guess we really pushed you a little, huh?" Tereza says with a chuckle, while Menchi just sticks out her tongue playfully.
Both women grab one of Alex's arms, and together they walk back to the parking garage.
On their way back to the car, they're stopped by a pair of smug men blocking their path.
"Yo, beautiful ladies!" one of them calls out, smirking as he sizes up Tereza and Menchi. "Today's a nice day. How about we take you two on a proper shopping trip? We've got a nice BMW, and we can easily score reservations at 3 Moons, one of the best restaurants around, as you surely know."
His smirk deepens as he continues, "That guy you're clinging to? He's clearly beneath you. Why waste your time indulging him? Ladies of your caliber deserve way more! And you," he says, addressing Alex with a sneer, "leave now if you want to avoid any injuries. If you're lucky, we'll return your girls after we're done!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Menchi, Tereza, and Alex exchange glances, their expressions shifting from slight amusement to outright disbelief. The bluntness and sheer pathetic nature of the pickup attempt leave them speechless for a moment.
Finally, Alex snaps, his patience completely spent after enduring the shopping trip from hell. His eyes flash red, [Commander Shepard's Dog Tag] activating as he releases his Nen. His Aura surges, suffocating the two men with its intensity. Directing his full attention toward them, Alex calmly but firmly orders:
"Fuck off."
The two men's legs buckle instantly, and they collapse to the ground. Their bodies tremble uncontrollably as they piss and shit themselves in sheer terror. Their faces twist into masks of pure panic, their expressions screaming that they believe their lives are about to end.
"Let's go. Ignore this trash," Alex says, stepping over the collapsed men without a second glance. Menchi and Tereza follow suit, both laughing as they step on the men's faces before continuing toward the car.
Inside the car, Tereza leans over and whispers, "That… kinda turned me on. So that's Nen, huh? Menchi, can you do that too?"
"I can do that, and way more," Menchi replies with a confident grin. "This sort of intimidation is usually pretty basic. But I have to say, Alex, yours is clearly special. To make them collapse and leak themselves like that is impressive. I also noticed something unique in your Nen. Could it be an item or something related to the system?"
Alex opens [Commander Shepard's Dog Tag] in the system and shares its details with the two women through 1337.
Tereza and Menchi grow curious, and the three of them start exchanging information about their current items. Menchi's expression brightens as she realizes something crucial.
"I see! That's why you wanted to buy those trashy things at Heavens Arena! They're system items! According to this rarity scale, [Ben's Knife] is a real treasure—it's quite expensive, huh? I also have to say, it suits you perfectly, Tereza."
"Of course it does," Tereza says with a smirk, flipping her hair.
The group finally drives to a nearby grocery store, and Menchi takes her time exploring every single aisle. She meticulously examines products, filling up three whopping shopping carts.
Hours later, they finally return to Alex's apartment. Exhausted, Alex starts unloading their haul from his inventory while Menchi and Tereza begin organizing everything in the kitchen.
Suddenly, Alex's phone buzzes with a notification.
"Rishi is back!" Alex announces, his voice filled with surprise.
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