Chapter 15: Otaku religion
'This is harder than I thought.' Ben sighed. 'All right...I can do this. Let's go again.'
He scanned the horizon, discovering an intriguing girl with bright pink hair in the distance. She was standing next to a flower garden, laughing at something on her phone.
Ben thought, 'Pink hair? That's too easy. I'll ask her if she's the stripper from that movie.'
'No damn it! That's offensive! Something else...'
Ben pondered for a while but no one else sprang to mind. Then he thought of something. 'Wait...would that work? Beluga said famous person...I don't know if characters would qualify?'
His idea was strange. He wasn't sure if it would fly. In fact, he expected it to probably crash and burn. 'Would she even know who that is?' After considering it for a few seconds, he sighed. 'Whatever, I'll just try it. I'm not getting any better ideas anyway.'
Ben went over to the girl. As he got closer, he noticed two things. First, on her pale skin, she had an almost star-shaped birthmark under her left eye. Rather than making her unattractive, it added a unique charm. Second, she was super s.e.xy!
Her long pink hair stretched down to her waist, curving around her large D cup b.r.e.a.s.ts, which popped out even more when contrasting with her narrow waist. A skin-tight black top displayed her smooth stomach, accented with a butterfly piercing at her belly.
Ben gulped. 'This is a long shot, but I'll never know until I try!' He walked up to the girl and launched the stupid line he was sure would bomb.
"Hey, are you Sakura from Naruto?"
He delivered the line with the proper playful tone but was still pessimistic. Ben predicted she would glance at him like he was crazy or say no and walk away. At best, she wouldn't understand who Sakura was and ask for clarification. The prognosis wasn't good, but this world had no shortage of medical miracles.
*Pffftt!*
Ben's face froze. 'Did she just burst into laughter?'
"Haha. I wish!" The girl said.
[Target's current attraction level: interested]
[Congratulations! You've unlocked the Achievement: Passing Interest(common) - Make one woman interested]
[Distributing reward: PUA Points + 100]
'Another 100 points!' The achievement shocked Ben but he tried to keep a straight face. It seemed this girl not only didn't walk away, but her attraction level jumped right to interested! Was she an anime fan?
Ben realized, 'This must be what Ben meant by type. If this girl is an anime fan, then me using such an unusual opener about a subject she likes must've created this amazing result!'
It made sense that some openers could lead to leaping attraction levels. Not long ago, he cliff dived from indifferent to mortal enemy on a raccoon-head.
The girl interrupted Ben's thoughts. "Do you like anime?"
Ben hesitated. It was an unwritten rule among Otakus and superheroes that you never reveal your true identity, especially to a cute girl. 'No. I can't play this one by the book...I need to take a chance!'
"...That's right." He risked it all!
The girl stared at him. After a long time, she smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Katie, please ta' meetcha!"
'Yes!' Ben tossed the Otaku bible in the garbage and it worked! He wouldn't be bound by mortal rules anymore! Hail Satan!
Ben shook her hand and offered his name. 'Now what?' He was lucky that he didn't have to decide.
After he admitted to liking anime, Katie began an endless rant. She talked about the recent animes she's watched, her favorite characters, and scenes. She didn't even give Ben a chance to speak. The dark side offered many benefits!
Ben only nodded the entire time. After a while, when Katie was out of breath, Ben's instincts told him the moment had arrived and he took a stab with his devil-forked tongue. "Katie, I have to go, but can we exchange numbers and talk later?" Ben's tone was relaxed but his heart was thumping!
She was silent for a few seconds, considering it...
"Alright. Give me your number," Katie said.
'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I'll die in 16 days!' Ben knew better than to give his number to a girl. He was thankful that Beluga already gave him the perfect line for this occasion.
"I don't pick up calls from unknown numbers, so put your contact in first." Ben took out his phone and put it in her hand to input her number. To Ben, the line sounded like something a drug dealer would say, but according to Beluga, women liked that!
After he said it, Katie's eyes flashed. Then, she put her number in the phone without further hesitation!
'It worked!' Ben was dancing in his mind! Morpheus Beluga was right! He began to see the Matrix!
There was one last step left. He still remembered what Beluga said: 'These females are sneaky. Sometimes they give fake numbers. Be sure to call it and see her phone ring before you leave...' It's not weird. This is called double-checking, ok! Even NASA does it!
Even though something sounded off, Ben couldn't afford to care about it. He pressed call on her contact...When her phone lit up, Ben knew he succeeded!
[Congratulations! You've unlocked the Achievement: If You Throw Enough Sh*t at the Wall, Some is Bound to Stick(common) - Acquire a phone number from 1 woman who is interested in you]
[Distributing reward: PUA Points + 100]
He gained another 100 points and now had 850! His weekly challenge also progressed! As for that brutal burn of an achievement name, Ben didn't care! The system was like a beauty with a bad temper; He would put up with her as long as she kept giving him benefits!
Ben saw the chance to live! If he kept going at this rate, maybe he could really complete the life and death mission...No! He'd already given up his Otaku religion! He'd do it no matter what!