Chapter 18: The Original Dante Missed Every Shot and I’m Taking Every One That’s Left on the Court

Dante, who had been observing Natasha, was interrupted by a notification from his phone.

A smile crept onto his face since he already had a good idea who it was.

[Senior Emma]

[...Coward!]

"Pfft..." he couldn’t hold back his laughter after seeing her message.

This was the same person who had begged Natasha not to let him go anywhere a few minutes ago.

If he didn’t have the Target Feed and the plot knowledge, he might have actually gotten angry, thinking that this was all she had to say to him after hiding things for so many years.

But now, she was completely exposed to him.

"What a tsundere," Dante shook his head with a smile, already thinking of ways to tease her in the future.

"But she can’t really be blamed for being like this..." he muttered as he looked at the name the original Dante had saved her under.

[Senior Emma]

"Was this guy gay?" Dante rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Despite Emma throwing so many signals at him in the novel, the original Dante ignored every single one of them and kept pushing her away as they grew up.

This was exactly why he hated his character so much.

"So what if she was way out of his league? She only had eyes for that fucking dumbass!" The more he thought about it, the more his blood pressure rose.

"She took all the shots, but this guy kept moving the goalposts every time..." he sighed, feeling exhausted.

Going through his memories, he realised the original Dante’s IQ had been steadily dropping over the years after he joined the protagonist’s camp.

But, in his opinion, no matter how dumb a guy was, no one would say no to such a gorgeous woman.

"Since I’m living as Dante now, I’ll be taking every single shot," he said with a confident grin. "You miss every shot you don’t take, after all."

With that, he immediately changed her contact name.

[Future Wifey]

Was it cringe? Maybe a little. But Dante didn’t give a shit.

Everything was cringe until it was your turn.

Aside from that, he added the word "future" so that he would push himself to drop it as soon as possible.

"I’m already missing her. I hope she comes back soon," Dante said while looking at her profile picture.

"But for now..." he took one last look before closing the app. "I should just ignore her so she can ’focus’ on her business trip," he added with a devious look on his face.

He put his phone down and pulled up the Target Feed. Natasha had already gotten dressed and walked out of her room.

She headed straight to the kitchen, put on her apron, and started cooking.

After watching her for a while, he figured she was making hangover soup.

"Oh, master... how kind of you to care for me," he said with a touched expression before turning his eyes to the mission tab.

"I’ll work hard to make us strong too."

****

Thirty minutes later, Natasha stepped out of the kitchen, humming to herself while carrying the soup.

"Hmm~ Hmm~" She climbed the stairs with a smile. ’I wonder if he’s awake yet...’

In no time, she was standing right in front of his bedroom door.

She knocked a few times but got no reply. So she reached for the knob, only to stop her hand midway.

’What if he doesn’t remember anything at all?’

’What if he still hates me? He didn’t even hear my apology...’

A lot of questions popped into her head like chains holding her in place. But then, a voice of her own rose up in her mind.

’You slayed dragons and even wiped the mighty Kingsleys off the face of the earth, and this is where you stop?’

That broke every bit of hesitation she had in an instant.

’If he doesn’t remember anything, I’ll tell him all over again.’

’If he hates me, I’ll keep apologizing until he forgives me...’

With that, she pushed the door open and walked inside.

What greeted her broke her resolve in an instant.

Dante was lying on the floor, breathing and sweating heavily. He looked awful, his face flushed red.

The soup bowl slipped from her hand.

"DANTE!" Natasha called out, snapping out of her shock. She caught the bowl with her reflexes, set it down on the table, and rushed to his side.

She placed her hand against his forehead to check his temperature.

Feeling the mild heat, she let out a quiet sigh of relief on the inside. "It’s not too bad..."

She grabbed his shoulders and shook him awake.

"Dante, wake up! Dante! WAKE UP!"

Dante struggled to open his eyes and looked up at Natasha while panting, "Master... Uh, are we in heaven?"

"But, why do you have horns?"

"Oh... you’re completely out of it. How much did you even drink?" Natasha looked at him with a distressed expression in her eyes.

Just then, a mechanical voice rang out in her head before a system window popped up in front of her.

[New Chain Mission Triggered!]

[Mission: Care For Dante]

[Description: Dante drank too much yesterday and has fallen sick. As his master, it’s your duty to stay by his side and care for him until he recovers.]

[Time limit: 24 hrs]

[Reward: 10 Mana Stones (Legendary)]

[Failure: Dante’s Liver Failure]

’Liver failure? System, you’re going way too far!’ Natasha didn’t even glance at the reward after seeing the failure condition. ’If there’s any punishment to be given, give it to me!’

[Heh, I’m going too far? You should have stopped him before he went overboard with the wine. But what did you do? You poured him more!]

[Do you have any idea how much he drank? 50 litres!]

[I’m doing you a favour by keeping him alive!]

’50 litres? What the fuck!?’ Natasha couldn’t hold back the curse after hearing the number.

It shattered... all her defenses.