Despite what Ren had been thinking last night, his tired and worn-out body forced him to sleep. When he woke up, he was met with Mary’s peaceful sleeping face. He lay there and watched her breath slowly. It wasn’t a dream. He studied her face. The curve of her cheekbones, the definition of her lips, and the tiny freckle right next to her nose. She’s more beautiful than in Y.O.W. Ugh, I acted like an idiot in the game. Why does she like me? His eyes followed the curve of her neck to her collarbone and to the top of her bosom. Her under gown had slipped in her sleep, revealing more of her top curves than usual.

Ren carefully sat up and looked away. Calm down, Ren. Deep breaths. Focus on something else. Level 82 robes give boosts to most mana, but can also add speed effects… When he calmed down, he slowly and carefully got out of bed so as not to disturb her. Lightly touching his bandaged shoulder, he expected to feel pain but was surprised there was only an uncomfortable twinge. He flexed his left hand and found he’d regained his motor skills. Do people heal quickly in this world? Well, it’s nice to know casting magic only effects my body for a night.

He looked around the room and wondered what he should do until Mary woke up. Going outside without her didn’t seem like a good idea. The rules of this world seem so different. My common sense might conflict with this world’s common sense and get me in trouble. Best take it one step at a time. His gaze fell on his bag. I guess I could take inventory. Picking up his bag with his good hand, he brought it over to the table, opened it, and carefully placed the contents onto Mary’s table. He tried not to make any noise so he wouldn’t wake her up. He took out the pouch of money he had and emptied it onto the table. Large gold coins, medium gold coins, and small gold coins fell out.

Huh? Y.O.W never had a definition between sizes. It was all added up in credits. What is the value of these? If I remember correctly, I only had enough lil on me at the time to buy basic supplies. He sorted them into three piles and counted. He had about three hundred large coins, five hundred medium coins, and roughly close to a thousand small coins. Turning to the rest of his stuff, he counted out ten potions. The bottles were a different glass design than the ones in Y.O.W. I wonder… He opened one of the blue potions, which he suspected was for restoring mana. Unlike in Y.O.W, he could re-cork the bottle. Among his items, was also various rings and accessories. He recognized most of them and remembered what they would do for him if he put them on.

There was one thing he didn’t recognize. It was a small red box. When he opened it, he found a red pendant with the Flame Emperors symbol on it. Did I get this from completing that dungeon? I wonder what it does? He decided not to test it out and closed the box. It was best he be cautious. He didn’t want to die twice.

Mary stirred and looked up at him sleepily from bed. She crawled out from under the covers. Rubbing her eyes, she walked over to him. “What are you doing? You should be resting.”

“S-sorry, did I wake you?” Ren had always been an early riser.

“No…” Mary scanned her table and froze. “Ren…”

“Oh, s-sorry. I’ll clean this up. I never had a pack as a flicker. My stuff was always… Stored elsewhere. So, I-I was trying to see what I had on hand… Mary-chan?”

She walked over to his pile of money and was staring at the large gold coins with her mouth wide open.

“Mary-chan? What’s wrong?” Ren looked from her to the pile of coins.

She seemed to snap back to reality and pointed at a large coin. “Can I hold one?”

Ren felt confused at her sudden hesitation. “Sure...”

She picked up the large gold coin like one would a piece of glass and slowly turned it over in her hands. “It’s real.”

“Well… that’s good to know, I guess. What can I-I buy with it? The money system in the world I came from… was different. We didn’t have physical coins either it was all in credit,” Ren explained.

Mary looked at him stunned and held up the large gold coin to him. “I’ve never seen one of these before. You can buy a house with one large gold coin and you have lots. Are you rich?”

“R-Rich? I was a higher-level player, so I wasn’t poor—a house!” Ren stood up so suddenly he knocked the chair back.

Mary nodded and looked uncomfortably at the fortune lying on her table. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the pile in wonder. “Y-You said you’ve never seen a large gold coin before. Is there something other than gold coins in this world?”

She frowned and went to a cabinet. She rummaged in the back and pulled out a tiny pouch before emptying it onto the table. There were two small gold coins, three large silver, ten medium silver, fifteen small silver, and a varying number of large, medium and small copper coins.

“This is my savings… from the last two years.” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

It hit him what he’d done. “I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to flaunt it or make you feel bad. I-I really didn’t know the worth. I… wasn’t rich either as a flicker or in my world. I made a modest living… I’m sorry.” He bowed deeply despite the slight pain in his shoulder. If she resented him for this, he might just curl into a ball and cry.

“I… didn’t think you were trying to be mean.”

He looked up at her and saw she was still upset. “Mary-chan…”

She cleared her throat and continued, “I just thought… what do I have to give you when you have all this?”

She gestured not to just the money, but the whole table. He looked at the potions and remembered her saying they were expensive. He was starting to understand that what he’d laid out on her small humble table was most likely a fortune she’d never see, even if she worked her entire life.

“Mary-chan,” Ren straightened up and looked at her determined, “You’ve given me more than anyone has in my entire life.”

She looked at him confused and he blushed. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly so he wouldn’t stutter. “In my world… I didn’t have any family or friends. I got up, went to work, and went home… That was it. There was a point I even questioned if life was worth living… When Y.O.W… When I first discovered the world that let me become a flicker, I was just trying it out on a whim. I had nothing better to do. It was fun, but it wasn’t really enjoyable until I first met you.”

Her cheeks turned pink. “Even though you couldn’t hear me?”

Ren grinned and paused before continuing. “I would have probably passed out from excitement if you’d talked to me like you are now. I’d always thought you were beautiful and now… I find you cute, playful, and confident. I really think your pretty and interesting… I want to get to know the real you…”

He stopped talking when he realized how red her face was turning, and he blushed too.

“Every day was fun because I got to see you. I couldn’t wait to get home and see you. If I was having a bad day, just seeing you made me feel better. You saved me from a life of nothingness... So, please don’t say that you have nothing to give. You’ve given so much already.” Ren wanted to hide in a corner. Everything he was saying was true, but so cheesy. “I know we don’t know the real each other much right now, but I really really want to learn more about you.”

I know I was just obsessed with a fantasy. I’m not that dumb, but this Mary-chan is real. I wonder why she likes me? I want to get to know her for real. This is a new world. Not earth and not Y.O.W. Maybe here I can…

Mary turned away from him. “So, you can still smooth talk even though you’re not a flicker anymore.”

“I-I-I…” Ren couldn’t think of anything else to say.

She laughed and turned back to him, her eyes sparkling. “I want to know more about the real you too.”

His hands felt cold and sweaty as he nodded slowly.

Mary took a deep breath and recovered. “Alright, first thing we should do is set you up a bank account. You can’t carry around this much money. You’re asking to get robbed.”

“But you hide your money in your house. Why do I need an account?” Ren’s brow furrowed.

She shook her head at him. “They only let you open up an account with them if you have a medium gold coin or higher. I’ve never had more than a couple small… Anyway, after the healer checks on you today, we’ll go to the bank and do that if he says your ok to go outside.”

Ren remembered something from Y.O.W. “Mary-chan, can flickers open up bank accounts?”

“You’re not a flicker anymore, so it should be fine.” Mary started packing his stuff carefully back into his bag.

“No, I meant I had an account as a flicker. I was wondering if it transferred over…” He stopped talking when he saw the horror on her face. Oops. I said something dumb again.