Rise of the Strongest Girl-Next-Door - Ch. 1

Hey guys, I'm coauthoring a yandere romance litrpg book with my wife called "Rise of the Strongest Girl-Next-Door". I need a few more beta readers (she's still writing it) to read as we go, but I thought we'd share our draft for Chapter 1 here, and if you are intrigued, you can let me know on Discord and I can add you to the beta group.

Chapter 1

Ethan - A Slayer's Morning

Ethan Harper woke up to the same old vaguely dystopian city noise: maglev trains growling in the distance, security drones whining as they zipped around the upper levels, the tenants above arguing with a building agent about the rent. Even at this ungodly hour, Neo Elysium, nor Cinder Flats, his apartment complex, never shut the hell up.

He groaned, more like a hiss, rubbing his eyes until he felt them water and start to get a bit sore. WIth the flood of stimuli, waking up was always brutal. Being a registered Slayer came with benefits like having better senses than your run-of-the-mill citizen, sure, but sometimes that felt more like a negative than a positive to Ethan. Especially when you stay up late and are so willing to lie to yourself about sleeping in being an option.

And another reason why sleeping in was a bad idea suddenly popped into existence not a moment later. A faint blue glow filled his studio apartment as a holo screen appeared in front of him. As part of his Slayer package, as it were, Ethan and all Slayers from S-Tier all the way down to D-Tier had access to these screens. Sometimes they were these imposing, physical things, like now. Other times they were like little narrations in your head—particularly in the middle of a dungeon run.

Ethan squinted at the HUD, already knowing what was coming. This early in the goddamn morning? Yep. It was a fucking Quest.

Here we go again, he thought. “So much for having a morning off.”

Right on cue, a crisp little tone chirped out. A translucent notification popped up, hovering annoyingly at eye level and following his gaze wherever it went:

• [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

• SlayerCorp Quest Offer Available

• Priority: Medium

• Slayer Count: 4-6

• Reward: 500 Credits, 1000 XP

• Accept? [Y/N]

"Fantastic," Ethan muttered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Nothing like waking up to corporate overlords dangling credits in your face."

Of course, being one of those people born with Slayer aptitude wasn’t all bad. He never had to finish university since he knew he had this gig lined up, and you only needed to work a few hours a day and could make a cushy enough living. He had savings, dammit, which was more than he could say about most people his age. Of course, Tom Dillinger, his high school pal who currently worked in the accounting office of Overlord Co didn’t have to deal with getting impaled on at least a weekly fucking basis.

“Perks of the job,” he muttered.

Ethan stood up, stretching muscles that had probabl already seen one too many dungeon crawls for a guy his age. At twenty-five, Ethan knew he looked pretty good. He had always been in shape, but since starting as a Slayer? He could moonlight as a male model as long as the photographer didn’t mind scars. 

He was lean, tall, handsome, ripped in a wiry sort of way with the kind of strength that came from fighting for your life on a regular basis. A nasty scar ran from his left collarbone to his sternum. That was a cute little souvenir from his first C-Rank quest, and it was far from the only or even the worst scar he had. He'd learned a lot since his first quest, though. Mostly about not getting hit by things with too many teeth. Also that no matter how prepared you think you are, you’re always going to get at least a little hurt.

“Kind of a metaphor for life,” he grumbled. Ethan shuffled to his modest but well-equipped kitchenette, letting his bare feet slape carelessly against the cold polished concrete floor. He needed some fucking coffee. 

Badly. 

As the machine gurgled to life, he glanced out the window at the mess of a city he called home.

Neo Elysium. What a joke of a name for a place that was about as far from heavenly as you could get. Bleak, white skyscrapers stretched up so high you'd think they were trying to fuck the clouds. Every surface flickered with holographic ads, news tickers, and who knows what else. It gave him a headache just looking at it. 

So damn busy out there, he thought.

Far below the skyscrapers, the city rotted away in shadow. Things looked so mundane on the ground. It was a reminder of how things used to be, before the world went crazy.

The coffee maker beeped at him angrily. Ethan poured himself a cup, savoring the rich smell before taking his first sip. 

At least some things had gotten better. This blend would've cost a fortune in the old world. Now? Prices were low. Just another perk of Slayers opening up new farmland beyond the portals. He’d had a hand in quite a few Quests like that.

As he sipped, Ethan's mind drifted back to the day everything changed. Five years ago, he'd been a nobody. Just another fresh high school student looking forward to being a college dropout in a dead-end career, wondering if he'd live to see thirty. Wondering if he even cared to.

The world had been a powder keg, with everyone fighting over the last scraps of resources and land left to claim. He remembered seeing footage of soldiers squaring off on the Russian border, thinking, "This is it. This is how it all ends."

Then reality decided to properly freak the hell out.

Glowing cracks ripped open across the globe. All sorts of nasty creatures came pouring out, along with crystals, precious metals, and materials that made scientists scratch their heads and salivate equally. And some people—lucky bastards like Ethan—woke up one day with powers straight out of a video game.

SlayerCorp wasn’t the first that figured out how to harness the System. But they did develop the interface that just about every Slayer and his or her grandma would go on to use. 

And with that, the rule book of the old world got thrown out the window.

Governments? Corporations? Even desperate individuals! It was a new gold rush. They all scrambled to keep up and control the new flow of resources—and stake their claim to territories where these portals kept appearing. SlayerCorp entirely dominated the East Coast, and that’s where he was, so his options were limited if he wanted to be a part of all this madness. 

Anyway, suddenly oil didn't matter so much when Slayers could grab crystal cores every day with enough juice to power a city district for a month. And some portals, once their dungeons and lands were tamed, remained, creating safe zones for things like nuclear waste containment, scientific experiments, agricultural cultivation, and mining operations.

Ethan downed the last of his coffee and pulled up the quest details. The glowing text hovered in the air, because apparently SlayerCorp wasn’t going to bother with smartphones for the moment:

• [QUEST: CRYSTAL SMASH & GRAB]

• Objective: Enter portal, defeat dungeon denizens, destroy Crystal Core, retrieve fragments.

• Recommended Party Size: 4-6

• Difficulty: C-Rank

"Sounds like a real party," Ethan muttered. He didn’t have to sign up, technically, but he had a quota of six dungeons a week to do, and he already took one day off. 

Time for the pre-quest checklist. He'd learned the hard way that skipping this was a great way to end up as monster chow.

First up, he did his gear check. Ethan ran his hands along his Lifeblade's scabbard. The weapon seemed to buzz under his fingers, almost purring. 

Lifeblade was also his class. Though he wasn’t one of the higher tiers for a Slayer, he did have a rare class that put him pretty in demand. He was also competent and in great shape.

His blade was more or less a part of him, channeling his abilities as a support-class Slayer. He'd seen the judgy looks from the muscle-brained DPS types when he pulled out his weird-looking sword, but those looks often changed to words of praise or gratitude by the end of a run.

Next up, he had to sort his potions. Ethan dug through his pack, taking stock of what he had. He could always requisition more from SlayerCorp, but that came out of his income, so he tried to be cheap with them. 

Health vials glowed red, and mana potions shimmered blue. He had a few specialty brews too—stuff to make you hit harder, move faster, that kind of thing. Ethan allowed himself a small grin. He might not be A-Rank, but he'd be damned if he'd walk into a dungeon with his pants down and dick out.

A loud yawn and some happy giggles from next door made him freeze. Ethan's ears perked up, catching light footsteps and a soft humming sound.

That was Lily Chen. His closest neighbor in these apartments. This floor was mostly made up of Slayers, being so close to a SlayerCorp Portal Deck. 

Lily. The A-Rank Berserker with a smile that he couldn’t get out of his head for more than ten minutes at a time. She was…perfect.

Ethan's heart did a little waltz in his ribcage as he imagined her adorable face. Yeah, yeah—real smooth for a hardened Slayer, huh? He'd seen her around, traded a few nods in the hallway from time to time. Every interaction had felt brief and awkward in one way or another to the point where he wondered if she was avoiding him. 

But she didn’t seem to mind the fact that they were coworkers, for lack of a better word. They'd run a bunch of quests together over the few months after he moved into this building. Still, every time, something went wrong. Never disastrously bad, mind you—but never the progress he hoped for.

He didn’t have trouble in the past hooking up with other girls—even other slayers. But Lily was different. For one thing, she was his senior in Slayer Tier, which was kind of a big deal to some.

"Get it together, Harper," he muttered, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair. "She's A-Tier. Probably doesn't even remember your name."

But his mind wandered back to their last quest anyway. It had been a routine cleanup, a goblin den with a decent amount of gold to claim, among other loot. Lily had been... well, like a human hurricane. Her battle axe blurred as she carved through the enemies like a lightsaber through a loaf of Wonderbread. Then a stray arrow caught her in the shoulder.

That's when Ethan got to show off a little.

His Lifeblade sang as he siphoned vitality from the goblins, channeling it into Lily. The wound closed up in seconds. The look—maybe of surprise and gratitude—that she flashed him? Yeah, a guy could get used to that. Even if it was a little intense for her adorable face.

Shaking off the daydream, Ethan decided to knock out a quick workout before grabbing a bite and heading out to the Portal Deck. He did push-ups, squats, sit-ups, and some reps with free weights that would make normal gym rats scratch their heads if they saw. Nothing too crazy, but certainly enough to keep him in "don't get eaten by monsters" shape.

Showered and dressed in his usual getup—reinforced pants, compression shirt, and a leather jacket that had seen better days—Ethan felt ready to face whatever the System decided to throw at him. He pulled up the quest roster one last time, curious about his future party members.

His eyes widened as a familiar name popped up:

[CRYSTAL SMASH & GRAB - PARTY]

1. Ethan Harper (C-Rank Lifeblade)

2. Lily Chen (A-Rank Berserker)

3. ...

Huh. Once he’d reserved a possible spot, Lily’s name appeared almost immediately afterwards. Seeing that, the decision was made. Ethan's finger hovered over the Confirm button for a split second before he smashed it. A grin spread across his face.

"Well," he said to his reflection as he picked out his clothes for the day, "time to show that sexy little Berserker what a C-Rank can do."

With a final pat of his pockets—keys, wallet, emergency beacon)—Ethan stepped out into the hallway. The constant buzz of Neo Elysium surrounded him, promising danger, adventure, and maybe a chance to impress the girl next door without making a complete fool of himself.

Probably not, but hey, a Slayer can dream.

Lily - True Love

Lily Chen's eyes popped open, and just like that, she was instantly awake. No need for an alarm when you're powered by pure, unadulterated crush energy. She grinned at the ceiling, wiggling her little toes under the covers. Another day, another chance to breathe the same air as Ethan freaking Harper.

She sat up, running a hand through her messy bedhead before grabbing a brush off her nightstand to tame it. For an A-Rank Berserker, you'd think she'd look more... intimidating? But nope. Lily was one hundred pounds and five-foot-nothing of pure adorkable, wholesome sweetness. That was more or less a carefully cultivated person, though. Being underestimated just made it more fun when she pulled out her axe and started wrecking face. And being this cute, well…it kept Ethan’s attention from veering too far from her. At least…most of the time.

The System chimed, and Lily's heart did a little tap dance. She pulled up the notification, and—

• [CRYSTAL SMASH & GRAB - PARTY]

• 1. Ethan Harper (C-Rank Lifeblade)

• 2. ...

"Oh. My. God." Lily whisper-screamed, not wanting to be heard by her sexy neighbor. She smashed the 'Accept' button so hard she was surprised her finger didn't shatter the holo-screen. Who cared if she did? Ethan was on the quest. ETHAN. WAS. ON. THE. QUEST. This was not a frickin’ drill!

She bounced out of bed, vibing to some bubblegum pop as she set out her clothes and started the water heater. Shower time! And if she happened to use the same lavender shampoo that a certain Lifeblade once told Jathan O’Malley that he liked the smell of three years, four weeks, and six days ago in a cafe on Paper Street in the Third District of their home city? Total coincidence. Obviously.

The warm water felt amazing on her naked skin, but Lily was too amped to enjoy it properly. Her mind was already racing ahead to the quest. Would Ethan notice when she activated her new battle stance? Would they get paired up and get to clear a corridor together? Would they…would they maybe…make love?

Well, no. Probably not that last part.

She'd been practicing her newest Berserker skills for weeks—that’s how long it’d been since the last time they went on a quest together. Maybe he'd compliment her axe work again. Or her pigtails! Wait, no, focus Lily. She was a badass Berserker, not some lovesick teenager. Please. Get it right—she was a lovesick twenty-one-year-old.

Dressed in her cutest sports bra and boy shorts (hey, a girl can be practical AND hot), Lily skipped to her living room. Her axe was propped against the wall, taller than she was and probably heavier than most people could lift. Lily picked it up like it was made of cardboard. Being an A-Tier Berserker had its perks.

"Okay, big guy," she said to the axe, "let's show the boy-next-door what we can do."

She started some practice swings, but her eyes kept drifting to The Wall. That's what she called it in her head. Capital T, capital W. The Ethan Wall. Dozens of photos, all of him, smiling that heart-stopping smile. Some she'd taken on quests (sneakily, of course), others around the city (also sneakily). It wasn't stalking if it was true love, right? Right.

On the other side of that wall was Ethan’s bedroom. She’d only broken in a few times while he was out, just to really take in the smell of the place, but she was sure his bed was right there.

Lily put down her axe and walked over to her favorite photo. It was a selfie from her first day as a Slayer—also her first quest with Ethan. She was grinning like an idiot, and Ethan... God, he looked like a freaking movie star. His arm was around her shoulders, all casual like it was no big deal. Never mind the fact that his arm was also around some other DUMB FUCKING WHORE’S shoulder—or it used to be, before she cut that girl out of the photo. 

She could still feel the warmth of his body, smell that Ethan-y smell that made her knees go weak.

She touched the photo gently, then gave it a quick kiss. Then licked it. Then stuck it in her mouth and sucked it. Then she put it back on the wall and dried it off with her photo-drying towel. Normal crush behavior, obviously.

Looking at that picture always brought her back to junior high. Talk about awkward years. That was well before her hot girl awakening. She'd been more or less the human incarnation of pimples and bad haircuts, and therefore an easy target for every mean girl and wannabe tough guy in school. But then there was Ethan.

“Ethan…” She almost moaned it.

She remembered it like it was yesterday, not to be all cliche and stuff. Some jerk in her third period had thought it'd be hilarious to set her messy ponytail on fire in chem class. She could still smell the burned hair, feel the hot sting of humiliated tears. But then, like some knight in shining armor, there was Ethan.

"Leave her alone, you fuck," he'd said, all quiet and fierce. Before the other guy could say something like “Make me,” Ethan lost interest in waiting to see what happened next and pounded the bully in the face with his fist, knocking him, and a couple teeth, right out. And when the bully was dealt with, he didn't just walk away. He gave her his jacket to cover her messed-up hair. "Come on," he'd said, so gentle it made her heart feel like a thousand bees were living inside it. "Let's get you to the nurse."

Lily sighed dreamily. She still had that jacket. She slept with it every night, wore it whenever she needed to masturbate, too. It didn’t smell like him anymore, but sometimes she'd wrap it around her pillow and kiss it, make-believing it was him. Not weird at all, no sir.

Her eyes drifted to another photo. It was one of Ethan laughing with his friends outside their high school. She hadn't taken that one—she straight up stole it. Back then, she'd been too shy to get close enough to justify asking for a copy. But oh, she remembered that day, alright.

It had been raining like crazy, and she'd forgotten her umbrella like a total dork. There she was, huddled under some store awning, probably looking like a drowned mouse. And Ethan, beautiful, wonderful guy that he is, was, and always would be, had seen her. He jogged over, handed her his umbrella with that movie-star smile, and said, "Here. Looks like you need this more than I do."

Then he was gone, back to his friends, getting soaked but laughing like he didn't have a care in the world. Lily had held onto that umbrella for weeks, sleeping with it next to her bed. She only gave it back when the guilt got too much. Well, she gave back an identical one, anyway. It took some work to find where he’d bought it. The real umbrella was currently under her pillow.

One more photo caught her eye. This one she'd taken herself, telephoto lens and all. Creepy? Maybe. But how else was she supposed to get pictures of Ethan volunteering at the homeless shelter? The memory made her all warm and fuzzy inside. There he was, serving soup, listening to some old guy's probably boring story like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Just when she thought she couldn't love him more, he'd go and do something like that. It wasn't fair. How was her poor heart supposed to handle this guy?

A smell wafted through the air, making Lily's stomach growl. Oh great, now he was cooking something delicious. Because of course he could cook. Stupid perfect Ethan with his stupid perfect everything. She pouted, catching her silly reflection in the gloss of the photo she’d been staring at.

Lily bounced on her toes, too excited to simply stand still. Soon, she'd see him. She’d make sure to leave after him so she could watch him as he walked there, like usual. Maybe today would be the day she'd finally work up the courage to talk to him. Like, really talk. Not just "Oh, hi," and then awkwardly going quiet like always.

Her eyes landed on her favorite sneaky photo. Ethan, working out in the park, shirt off, muscles all... muscular. Not that she was a slouch in the fitness department, but being a D-Tier Slayer, that boy worked hard to make sure he could keep up with the likes of her, and it showed. Hoo boy did it show. Her cheeks felt hot just looking at it. She'd almost blown her cover taking that one, nearly dropping her phone when he looked her way. Worth it, though.

It wasn't just his looks, though. (But holy crap, those looks.) It was the whole package. The way he always pushed himself to be better. His skill as a Slayer went beyond what his stats could quantify. She knew B-Tiers and A-Tiers that would think twice before pissing him off—and he was a support class. 

But it was also how he was just so freaking kind to everyone, even people who didn't deserve it. He was the reason she'd started training so hard. In a weird way, he was the reason she'd been blessed with the Berserker class when the System showed up.

Lily shook herself out of her Ethan-induced daze. Time to get ready for real. She pulled on her reinforced leggings and a top that made her boobs look freaking juicy and round as frick, then strapped on her axe.

"Okay, Tony Montana," she said to her fluffy white cat who finally decided to grace her with his presence as she was pouring food into his dish on her way out the door. "Wish Mommy luck. Maybe today's the day your future Daddy notices her!"

Tony Montana, being a cat, was uninterested and, frankly, kind of a dick.

Heart pounding, palms sweaty, she waited until she heard a click from outside, then waited about thirty more seconds to make sure she’d be behind just far enough to follow Ethan on his way to the Portal Deck. 

When she was totally sure enough time passed, she took a deep breath and opened her door. And there he was, apparently still fumbling with the lock on his door for some freaking reason. Ethan. Right there. Looking her dead in the face.

Lily froze. This wasn't the plan. She was usually so good at timing things, at avoiding these awkward oh-my-god-he's-right-there kind of moments. But now, with Ethan so close she could count his unfairly long eyelashes, Lily Chen—A-Rank Berserker, slayer of monsters, and world-champion secret admirer—found herself totally, completely, utterly tongue-tied.

He smelled so good, even from here. Her senses as a Slayer picked him up easily. Frick. He smelled, like, illegal levels of good. Illicit. Evil. Sexy sandalwood and sexy citrus and pure, concentrated hotness. She had to mash her thighs together out of reflex when they locked eyes.

In that moment, with Ethan close enough to almost touch, Lily knew one thing for absolute certain: She would do anything—anything at all—to make Ethan Harper hers. But right this moment?

Yep, she was screwed. And not in the fun way.