“What is this….”
I was looking at my reflection in the mirror after taking a shower.
“Who the heck is this guy…?”
I had no idea who this face belonged to.
No, more shockingly, it was how good-looking that face was.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…
“…Am I too handsome?”
Saying it out loud made me super embarrassed. It felt like I was overflowing with self-love, ready to wink at myself in the mirror every day.
But still.
It was good-looking enough that it wasn’t weird.
‘No matter how much diet is like winning the lottery…’
This is too much of a difference.
My face was definitely puffy from fat before.
But all that fat melted away, giving me chiseled cheekbones and a clearer facial structure.
‘So, my nose was this high.’
As I was inspecting my face in the mirror in amazement, suddenly, the reactions of people when I used Calorie Burn and came back from the [Bottom] sprang to mind.
Especially the reactions from Emily and Mary.
In Raphne’s case, she was freaking out, crying about losing weight.
But I felt like those two couldn’t look me in the eye for some reason.
If my face looked like this, I could totally understand.
Honestly, I felt a bit weird looking at my reflection too.
‘…L-Let’s finish getting ready first.’
Today is the day we finally tackle the Tower of Tarlos after a day of rest.
So, I washed up and changed my clothes.
‘What’s going to happen when I return to the academy…?’
Even while getting dressed, I felt uneasy.
And all I could think about was the situation after returning to the academy.
Fat Ken had been MIA for a while but came back looking amazing.
What if my face changed so much that I couldn’t even get in anymore? That thought worried me.
Creek!
After getting ready, I went down to the restaurant on the first floor of the lodge, where I found Mary sitting alone at our usual table, looking dazed.
She was staring blankly out the window, her feet swinging.
Looks like she was the first one ready and waiting.
When I stepped down the creaky wooden stairs, Mary turned to look at me.
“……Ah. …Ugh.”
She spotted me and her eyes went wide in surprise before she immediately turned red and shyly looked down.
Then she began to fidget with her bangs.
“G-Good morning, Ken.”
She lifted her head again and waved her hand at me.
“Yes, did you sleep well?”
“…I was a little late falling asleep because of Raphne’s sniffles, but I’m okay.”
“…Haha, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on it.”
She’s still crying, huh.
Raphne had been sniffling a lot since I lost weight.
I guess it’s because she’s surprised and disappointed at how much I changed.
‘Let’s eat a lot again! Let’s get back to how things were!’
I recalled when she was tearfully holding my hand.
But unfortunately, I have no plans to gain back the weight I just lost.
Of course, if the people around liked me when I was chubby, keeping that weight might make sense.
But the problem is my stats.
Ken after losing weight is as strong as Siegfried, or maybe even matched with Raphne.
Having strong power is crucial in this unpredictable place, even if it means losing Raphne’s prophecy.
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“No… I was waiting for Ken to come out so we could eat together.”
“…Not with the party?”
“Ah, ah! I-I mean, with the party! …I misspoke.”
Mary turned red at my casual question and seemed flustered.
She then avoided eye contact.
‘…Something’s definitely different.’
Mary used to blush quite often even before I lost weight, but she never had this much trouble making eye contact.
But now I understand.
The problem was with me.
It was my changed face.
Honestly, it was pretty awkward to feel that way.
Not just from Mary but also from Emily who reacted similarly.
Though Emily had taken to nervously rambling and smiling instead of just avoiding my gaze.
And when she thought I wasn’t looking, she would stare at my face.
Most of all, the reactions of the ordinary people around us changed, making the atmosphere feel quite strange.
“…Whoa, look at that.”
“Is he… a adventurer?”
“…With a face like that? …Nah, he must be some noble here to commission a quest.”
I heard whispers nearby.
It was still early morning, so the first-floor restaurant was pretty empty aside from us.
The only people there were some merchants and adventurers coming in early for work.
And among them, two female adventurers were staring at me intently.
Feeling their gaze, I turned to them, and they were startled, wide-eyed.
One blushed and looked down, while the other shyly smiled and waved at me.
I gently lowered my head and looked back at Mary.
Honestly speaking.
It was super burdensome.
Both women and men were looking at me for quite a while.
I thought that handsome people would be somewhat common in this world.
But it was surprising enough that people kept staring at my face as if it was something extraordinary.
“Um, Ken….”
“Yes?”
“What in the world happened in that trap?”
Mary, who had been fidgeting with her head down, suddenly asked that.
She seemed to bring it up to break the awkward atmosphere and was genuinely curious.
“It was a week, right? If you lost this much weight in that time, what the heck happened…?”
As she kept speaking, her expression darkened.
“What kind of hardship did you go through…? Sniff.”
Then she gently misted up around her eyes.
“N-No! It wasn’t that tough at all!”
“I’m sorry… If only I had been stronger, Ken would’ve taken me with him.”
Her voice trembled as she scolded herself.
But that was completely contrary to reality.
I originally left my party not because they were weak.
The real problem was the year-long time frame.
I told Siegfried and Adrian, but they didn’t know I spent an entire year in that trap.
I didn’t want to put them through that hell for a year when they were merely following me for my goal.
“It wasn’t hardship, really.”
“Then what about that face…?”
“Well, it’s…”
How do I explain this?
Saying ‘I actually went on a diet for a year!’ would only make Mary cry more.
Just then, a brilliant idea sparked in my mind.
“F-For real, I have a skill that lets me lose weight really quickly under certain conditions!”
“…A skill?”
“Yes! You’ve seen me lose weight before, right?”
Mary nodded slowly.
She probably remembers how I briefly lost weight when I resurrected from the previous Death God’s curse incident.
I decided to gloss over it as one of Calorie Burn’s effects.
“…Ken is sweet.”
But even with my clever excuse, Mary just smiled subtly as if she didn’t buy it.
It was a smile that expressed more ‘this is unbelievable’ than happiness.
Then she gently took my hand.
“…Just looking at this hand, I can tell how much Ken went through.”
“M-Mary…”
She very carefully brought my hand, which she held with both hands, to her cheek.
I could feel her soft, warm cheek against my rough, weathered skin.
Mary lingered there for a moment, as if to feel my hand.
Gently stroking my hand in a comforting manner, I smiled slightly and caressed her head with my other hand.
Surprised, Mary looked up at me with a soft smile.
“Ken, be careful. You must never fall away from my side!”
“Are you okay? If you get hurt, make sure to tell me!”
“Don’t worry about behind me. I’ll protect you no matter what happens.”
“Hey, …I’m actually kind of strong now, you know?”
Once everyone in the party was ready, we re-entered the tower.
The problem was that after I fell into the trap once, their overprotection went way overboard.
Raphne was holding my arm tightly, glaring around with a growl, while Emily was on the lookout from the other side.
And Mary lingered behind, dispersing cold air.
Where did our initial positions go? We moved up to the 10th floor this way.
Instead, Siegfried was at the front, and Adrian was at the back, continually keeping watch.
‘…I guess it was my fault for worrying them.’
I remembered stopping them from entering the traps, even petrifying them with fear.
To me, it felt like a year ago, but for them, it was only a week since they experienced that.
It wasn’t weird for them to be overly protective after I suddenly fell and barely escaped.
‘But I’m actually really strong now.’
If I measured my adventurer rank again, I’d probably be S-class at this point.
I led the charge, handling the monsters that approached us, defeating as many as Raphne did.
But even after seeing that, they seemed anxious.
And in line with my thought, Emily scolded me.
“Don’t do anything dangerous alone!”
That was her answer to my comment that I didn’t need to be overly protected.
Well, I guess it’s karma…
With a heavy sense of apology yet comfort, we reached the 10th floor.
“…Let’s see.”
I unfolded the map of the 10th floor to check our location.
Fortunately, the path to our goal on this floor was not too difficult to navigate.
Including my increased stats, there were no monsters here that could stop our party.
So we arrived at the entrance to our destination without incident.
“That’s covered in a ton of weeds.”
Raphne mumbled, looking up at the high wall of the place we arrived.
It was covered in vines and moss, making it hard to believe there was a door.
But there was clearly a gap in the center of the wall with a hole for inserting something.
It was the only shortcut found by the user who discovered the key after escaping from the [Bottom] of Tarros.
I asked Adrian to burn all the weeds off the wall.
Whoosh!
Smoke billowed as the vines burnt away, revealing the stone door beneath.
Standing nearly 4 meters tall, it looked quite impressive.
I inserted the key I barely managed to retrieve into the groove in the center of the door.
Gruuurrr.
As the key slid into place, the massive stone door groaned as it slowly opened.
“…How did you even figure this out?”
Emily asked in shock as she stared at the scene, and I awkwardly smiled and looked away.
“Uh, …I have some informants who know various things.”
I mumbled vaguely, but she didn’t pursue the question further.
I suppose where I learned it wasn’t that important.
“Shall we go in then?”
“If we enter here, it’s straight to the 100th floor?”
After seeing the magic whirlpool that emerged when the door opened, I nodded at Adrian and added to my party.
“We’re about to fight the boss of this tower.”
I checked the tense expressions of my party and said with a serious face.
“If anything dangerous happens, I’ll signal immediately. So don’t hesitate to run away.”
What we’re about to fight now is the reason this tower exists.
The legendary ancient dragon, Tarlos.
With some shortcuts, we had managed to reach Tarlos before at [Epiris Academy].
But we had never engaged in battle.
The reason for that was that after spotting Tarlos, Emily ran away immediately.
‘…There’s no way we can catch that.’
That thought echoed in my mind as Emily, unable to approach Tarlos, was practically glued to my side.
That was the mechanic that made this tower impassable.
To conquer the tower, we needed to defeat the ancient dragon, yet Emily’s character avoided combat altogether.
Honestly, I doubted we could actually win if we fought anyway.
But right now, in reality, I could fight.
The catch is that I hadn’t fought it even once and had no idea about its combat patterns.
Still, I turned my feet towards the portal of the shortcut.
Even if the opponent is a legendary ancient dragon, I’m sure there’s a way to defeat it.
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