Write Town

"Ugh, this sucks!”

He muttered as he stepped into a large, heavy duty rectangular, steel framed body vehicle mounted on a chassis designed to transport many passengers. Outside, a girl sprinted through the bus stop and performed an unnecessary front flip to get over a trash bin.

"Wu!” she shouted.

He flinched and turned toward the voice, only to see a girl, showered in sweat, cheeks burning red, catching her breath.

"Li- Lia?” he blinked. “Wha- what you doing here?”

She smiled while gasping for air.

"Cha-… sing… you… ofc, dummy!” she said.

He froze in confusion. She steadied her breathing as the wind brushed through her hair.

"Wu…” she said softly. “Be- before you go…” she clenched her chest. “I- I have something to… confess!”

His eyes widened, and his heart pumping hard.

"Co- con- confess?!”

She looked aside, played with her hair and biting her lip.

"I’ve been holding this in…” she lowered her gaze. “fo- for a long time now…”

He stared at her nervously, anticipating her confession.

"I-… I-…” she stuttered. “I-… lo-…”

His body trembled and his heartbeat turning erratic. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I LOGGED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AND LOST ALL YOUR PROGRESS!!!”

She ran away embarrassingly as she shouted it out loud.

"I KNEW IT!!!” he yelled.

As the bus departed, the conductor asked for his ticket and inspecting it.

"Oof...” the conductor said. “This is The Rong Bus, son…”

"Shenma?! (What?!)”

He was so shocked that he switched language.

"Bus to Bosan is… over there!”

The conductor pointed at another bus through the window as its turned in the opposite direction. Wu held his head with both hands and screamed internally.

"GOT DANGGGGGGG!!!”

When the bus reached its destination, he got off and stared at the gigantic ‘The Rong Bus‘ label on its side.

"How did I miss that?!”

He sighed and turned around, only to see Lia, waving at him from a distance.

"Huh?!” he flinched. “HOW THE F-?!”

"I use Teleport! Ihik!” she winked.

He frowned as he looked at her in disbelief.

"Did she even realized how costly that is?!”

They began walking around under the blazing sun.

"Ughh…” he groaned. “Now Im stucked in a wrong town…”

"Nu’uh!” she said. “We in the Write Town!”

He frowned and turned toward her.

"What you mean righ-… oh…”

He stopped as he noticed the street sign.

"Well…” she smirked. “At least Im here!”

She looked at him but he glared back at her.

"Even worse…” he said coldly.

"Meanie!” she pouted.

They stopped in front of a modest restaurant with plastic tables and chairs arranged in neat rows, right next to a laundromat.

"Alright…” he said. “Let’s do this!”

"Guttu lucku!” she thumbs up.

He took a step forward then stopped abruptly.

"Luck?” he scoffed. “I don’t believe in luck! Skill… is the only thing that matters!”

He stepped into the building confidently.

"Come on, Wu!” he muttered to himself. “We’ve practiced this multiple times now!”

He sat across a table from the manager, who stared at him intensely.

"My name is Wu! I’m a highly experienced technical specialist! I manage transaction processes with accuracy and efficiency! I represented my last company as a crucial point of contact, leaving a long lasting impression!”

He took a deep breath as the manager wrote something down.

"How long have you been working there?” the manager asked.
"Three months, sir!”

He answered without hesitation, only to find himself sitting in the corner moments later.

"Wu…”

Lia lowered down her gaze, squinted thoughtfully, then approached the manager.

"Sir…” she said. “We saw a health inspecto-”

"Ohh you both hired! Call me Mr. O!”

The manager welcomed them with open arms and handed them over to the senior employee.

"HOW THE F-?!” Wu asked.

"I believe in luck and charisma! Ihik!” Lia winked.

The entered the kitchen and met the senior employee, who turned out to be the only employee there.

"Oh hey! My name’s De! Time is money so let’s cut to the cook!”

He showed them their stations. Lia was assigned as a waiter while Wu-

"Dishes?!” he exclaimed.

"Yeah!” the senior chuckled. “You specialized in accuracy and efficiency anyway, so this job is perfect for you! Aight, la tur!”

De left, leaving Wu alone with a mountain of dirty dishes and a cement water tank.

"Hmm… this wont do…”

Wu looked around for something. Meanwhile, in the dining area, Lia wiped tables.

"Order!” a customer called.

"Coming!” Lia, Mr. O and De answered in unison.

Wu wandered outside, still searching for something, when he noticed a man next door.

"Ey mate!” the man waved. “Watchu dhoing?”

Inside, Lia smiled awkwardly at a customer while holding a pen and a notebook.

"Mi- miss…” she said gently. “This is a restaurant, not a baker-…”

The customer slammed the table.

"Egg, butter, flour! Boom! What a lazy worker! I wanna speak to your manager!”

Lia glanced at Mr. O, who’s cosplaying as a lamp next to actual lamp without lantern.

"I-… Im the manager!” Lia frowned.

Outside, the man Wu was talking to nodded, arms crossed.

"Sure! Can halp ya mate, but…”

The man raised an eyebrow and Wu rolled his eyes.

"I hate side quests…” he sighed. “Fine!”

They forcefully pushed a soft yet firm rectangular mattress into a washing machine.

"Who the f- cleans their mattress like this?!”

"I dhong know mate, boss orda!”

Back inside, Lia played a classic tic tac toe with herself, drawing the grid in her notebook while arguing with the customer.

"Im a food critique!” the customer declared. “I deserve free food!”

"What a coincidence!” she crossed the ‘O’. “Im a customer critique!”

Wu and the man pulled the mattress out of the machine, but the violent shaking caused bundles of money hidden inside to burst out.

"Haa?"
"Hee?"

Back at the tank, Wu placed the pipe he got from the man into the water, sealed both ends with his fingers then swiftly dragged one end out, creating pressure that caused the water to flow naturally. 

"Now we talking!”

After finishing their shift and collecting their wages, they rented a room at an affordable budget inn. 

"Ughh… look at this place…” Wu groaned.

"Oh, come on!” Lia smirked. “Its not that bad!”

In the midnight, something intriguing happened. The town hall bell rang violently as the ground suddenly began to shake.

"Eart- earthquake?!”

Lia panicked, her eyes wide and her thoughts spiraling.

"No..." Wu said calmly.

He peeked out the window. A massive cloud of dust rose in the distance, concealing a huge figure.

"I didn’t expect it to be this soon…”

He turned to Lia, only to see her trembled on the floor.

"Lia..." he knelt. "Hey… stay here, ok? I’ll be back!”

He rushed toward the door but she grabbed his arm. 

"Wu! No!” she shook her head. “I can telepo-”

He gently pulled her arm, placed something in her palm and clenched it with both his hands.

"Lia… If there’s one thing I learned in this world…” he said softly. “Problem will never be solved if we keep running!”

They stared at each other, one gaze burning with determination, the other wet with admiration.

"I might not believe in luck…” he smiled. “but I believe in you, Lia!”

Her cheeks burned red as he turned away. Before stepping outside, he armed himself with a legendary weapon, Lia’s pair of slippers.

"Asian mom’s most devastating weapon!" he whispered.

The ground shook even harder as the creature drew closer. Everyone fled in panic, everyone except Wu, who walked calmly through the crowd, head lowered.

"Wu…”

Lia stared blankly at the shiny golden coin with the number ‘8’ engraved in the center as the shaking finally stopped.

"GROOOOOOHHHHH!!!” the creature roared.

Wu stood firm, slippers in hand, as the wind scattered the dust, revealing a massive, barefoot, crocodile-like creature upright with two legs.

End of Chapter 1…

Extra Yi:
That night at the inn, Wu lay on the floor, covering his eyes with one arm as Lia stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around her body.

"Ahh~" she stretched. “That was a nice shower!”

"Yeah…” Wu replied flatly.

She smirked and sat on the bed.

"Hey, big boy!” she said. “Why don’t you come and lie here instead?”

"I prefer here, not gonna lie!” he said.

She patted the bed.

"Its more comfortable here! We can… cuddle…” she said shyly.

"Nah, Im good!” he replied.

She leaned forward and pinched the edge of her towel.

"Hoo? Arent you curious on what’s under my-”

A minute later…

"NOOOO!!! THAT’S MY LUCKY CHARM!!!”

Lia shouted as he threaten to throw the shiny golden coin into the dumpster outside.

"Gimme a good enough reason!” he said.

"I wouldn’t tease you again! Please give that back to me!”

He frowned and shook his head.

"You logged into my account, died and lost all my progress, how can I trust you?!”

"NOOO PLEASE NO! I WOULDN’T DO THAT AGAIN!” she cried. “WUUUUUUUUU!!!”