A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 45: New Resident

They were not even close to Shu’s house when he held up his hand, stopping her from moving any further, "alright, we are here, now, for you to enter my domain, there is something you must do."

She looked at him confused, ’what is he talking about, we are at least a city block away from his house, wait-’

She reached out and her hand touched the barrier, getting the warning, "n-no way, your barrier can grow? And it grew this much in just a few days? What the hell?" She looked up at him, waiting for an answer.

’Haha, well, I guess that would surprise anyone,’ he tapped his bat against the barrier before looking back at her.

"Yeah, it grew," he said, sounding a little smug for the first time since the dungeon. "But don’t get distracted by that part, what matters right now is that if you want to come in, I need to register you first."

She blinked at him, still half staring at the invisible wall in front of her, "register me? What, like a guest pass or something?"

"Something like that," he said, tapping the bat against his shoulder. "You already know what happens if the Domain doesn’t recognize you, so I don’t need to explain that part again."

She looked at him, then at the barrier, and clicked her tongue. "You mean the part where your barrier calls me unauthorized and threatens to shock me?"

"See? You remember," he said with a smile.

She smiled back at him nervously, "well, hard to forget an encounter like that, I was super annoyed though."

That almost made him laugh, but he held it back and just shook his head instead. "The point is, if you want in, you need resident permission first."

She folded her arms and stared past the barrier with a much sharper look this time. "’Resident permission,’ she thought, rolling the words around in her head. ’What kind of broken skill even has rules like that?’"

"This is still insane," she muttered, then looked back at him. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah," he said, sounding too tired to care. "But it is my insane thing, so work with me here."

Her lips twitched a little at that, but before she could say anything else, he lifted one hand and a blue screen opened in front of him.

[Would you like to register Raniel as a Domain Resident?]

[Yes / No]

Her eyes widened right away.

"...It knows my name?" she asked, looking from the screen to him. "What the hell?"

"I am not in the mood to question my own bullshit right now," he said, pressing [Yes]. "I just want to get inside."

The screen shifted at once.

[Registering Resident...]

[Resident Name: Raniel]

[Status: Authorized]

Another panel opened in front of her a second later.

[You have been recognized as an authorized resident of this Domain.]

She stared at the words while the pressure against her skin eased so smoothly she almost missed it. Then she lifted one hand and pushed it toward the barrier again, only for her palm to pass through without resistance this time.

Her breath caught for a second, ’it really changed,’ she thought, flexing her fingers once before pulling her hand back. ’No, it changed for me.’

"Well?" He asked, already sounding half dead again. "You planning to stand there all day or are you coming in?"

She looked at him with open disbelief. "You really just gave me resident access to your domain."

"Do you want me to take it back?"

"No," she said so fast it made him blink.

That answer came out way too quickly, and judging by the way her face warmed right after, she knew it too. Shu stared at her for a second, then looked away first, which only made her chest feel more annoying.

’Calm down,’ she told herself, trying and failing to kill the grin pulling at her mouth. ’He let you in, that’s all. Don’t make it weird. Don’t make it weird.’

He started walking again and jerked his head toward the building. "Then come on," he said. "I am tired, hungry, and one sarcastic comment away from falling over."

She laughed and hurried after him, but the strange warmth in her chest stayed there the whole time.

By the time Shu opened the door and stepped inside, Raniel was already expecting something strange, but the first thing that hit her still made her pause at the entrance.

Cool air brushed across her face, not outside wind but actual air conditioning.

At the same time, a soft flower scent drifted through the room, clean enough that her brain stalled for a second trying to process it. The city outside smelled horrendous, so walking into a place that smelled like some normal home product was so jarring it almost felt fake.

’What the hell?’ she thought, stepping in slowly. ’Air conditioning? An air freshener? In the middle of all this?’

Her eyes moved around the apartment and only got more confused the longer she looked. The place was bright, clean, and in ridiculously good condition compared to literally everything outside, with power running, lights on, and furniture that looked actually used instead of looted or half destroyed.

’No, this isn’t just "good condition,"’ she thought, staring harder. ’This place looks... I don’t even know, it’s been so long since I saw a normal looking place,’ she smiled.

"...Shu," she said, turning toward him, "what kind of nonsense are you hiding in here?"

He kicked off his shoes and leaned the bat by the wall with a tired exhale. "Ask me again when I have energy."

Before she could say anything back, voices reached her from the living room, making her head turn.

A little girl was sitting there watching cartoons on the TV.

’A kid? A TV?’ she thought, her brain stumbling over itself. ’What the hell?’

The girl on the couch turned at the sound of them and immediately brightened when she saw Shu.

"Sir Shu, you’re back," she said, sliding off the couch, but then her eyes landed on Raniel and she stopped, staring at the stranger in the doorway.

Raniel looked at the girl, then at the TV, then back at Shu.

’A child, a clean house, cold air, flower smell, cartoons,’ she thought. ’What kind of place is this?’

He noticed the way both of them had gone still and let out a tired breath through his nose. "Nari," he said, nodding toward Raniel, "she’s a guest, so don’t worry."

The little girl looked at him first, then back at Raniel, clearly using his face to decide how careful she should be. After a second, some of the tension left her shoulders, though she still stayed close to the couch.

"...Okay," she said softly, then looked at Raniel again with open curiosity. "Who is she?"

Raniel opened her mouth, but nothing useful came out at first because her brain was still stuck on the fact that there was a child here watching cartoons on a working TV while cool air filled the room like the apocalypse had politely agreed to wait outside.

’No, answer the kid first,’ she told herself, straightening up a little. ’You can lose your mind after that.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"I am Raniel," she said, putting on a small smile and lifting one hand in a careful wave. "Nice to meet you."

Nari stared at her for another second, then gave a tiny wave back. "I am Nari," she said with a small smile.

"Just who are you, mysterious man?" She whispered to herself as she took in everything.