Right now, even if I step outside the wavelength of my senses, I can pinpoint that guy’s location thanks to my camouflage ability, but in 30 minutes, I’m going to completely lose track of him.
‘…… Tsk, what can you do?’
SLIP-
With a dull sound, I suddenly looked down and realized I was wearing shoes.
Lifting my foot to check the sole, I noticed it was worn down as if it had been used for months. With that level of detail, [Camouflage] was surely an amazing ability.
‘First, let’s take off these shoes.’
I took off my dress shoes and left them at the entrance. Despite my pretty hands, my feet showcased the rough edges of my life.
My right foot was bent and twisted, injured in a dungeon back when I was still F-rank and never got proper treatment, so it had hardened like this.
I could walk and run without any issues, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight. However, after not seeing my body for a while, I felt a wave of emotions surge up.
– Trait [Calm]…
‘Ah, I see now.’
If I could choose to drop just one ability after everything is over, [Calm] would be my number one choice.
It’s really useful for controlling negative feelings, but utterly useless in a peaceful world.
Now back in a calm state, I moved towards Yeon-hee’s door.
– ……
Since I was walking with a bit of sound, she must have noticed I was getting close.
Knock, knock, knock-
– Heek!
She had already buried herself in her blanket, cutting off the outside world. Her late reaction of covering her mouth after my knock was so typical of Yeon-hee.
As I feared, was my male form that shocking? Was my judgment too hasty, should I have postponed things somehow? All sorts of thoughts ran through my head, but all I could do was wait.
I seated myself patiently at the door so she could settle down.
Crack- crack-
Most of my stats had dropped by 50, but making Skeleton Bombs was still possible. I quietly waited for her to react as I crafted the bomb. After a few minutes, Yeon-hee finally spoke up.
– …Why, why are you in male form?! Who even is that guy?!
This was exactly the first question I expected. But with that level of intensity…
‘What should I say… I might just brush it off that I have no memory, but will that even work?’
After she shouted, receiving no answer again, she curled up even tighter inside her blanket like a cat.
Then she began to mumble in a very soft voice. It seemed she thought I wouldn’t hear, but I could clearly pick up on it with just a bit of focus.
– No, it wasn’t Noh Ha-yoon or Baek Ah-rin… but a guy… Why? I thought for sure it would be an orc or some other girl… Was there ever such a man among the people I met in a month and a half? No… I haven’t seen a face like that before…
‘Aha—so that’s why.’
I don’t know why I thought she would turn into an orc, but I got a rough idea of what was making her anxious.
She must have thought that I was a different person from her upper-ranked list in the camouflage stats, which is why she was pressing me like that. Hm—
Because of the memories we shared, I could somewhat understand her feelings.
To her, I was a somewhat special being. It wouldn’t sit well with her that such a being—one she absolutely managed—put someone else above her in this ranking.
‘It wasn’t a big deal after all. I was worried for nothing, right?’
From Yeon-hee’s perspective, it might have been a big issue, but for me, it was just ridiculous. To have feelings for some other girl? It wouldn’t happen moving forward, so it was just pointless worry.
Yeon-hee babbled on about all the names of the women we had met before, and suddenly she started giggling.
– Hehe.. it wasn’t. Hehehe… But wait! Still, the identity of that man is still a mystery. Hmm… could it be? Is that what it is?
‘Wait? Did she finally figure out my identity on her own?!’
– Could it be Il-wol’s appearance before he died…
‘Oooh? You’re almost there!’
After all, if she couldn’t reach that thought after seeing someone in modern formal wear, something was definitely off.
– Il-wol’s human form… this look…?
She froze for a moment then dashed to the door.
“Is, Il-wol there?”
“Ah—”
‘Damn, this pronunciation hasn’t gotten any better with this appearance!’
“Th-that form… is that Il-wol’s appearance before he died?”
“……”
Instead of answering, I knocked three times on the door.
“Wow… so it really was… then could it mean you have memories from before you died…?”
After asking me the question, her heart was racing wildly.
‘… I need to answer carefully…’
After a moment of thought, this time I knocked just twice.
“Ah… so… you have no memories… I see… that’s good…”
Then Yeon-hee’s heartbeat quickly returned to a stable rate. She seemed to be greatly relieved that I didn’t have any memories.
Hmm—why is that? I’m not sure… Could it be that she worries I might want to run away from my past? If that’s the case, I should casually mention that she doesn’t need to worry about that at an appropriate time.
‘Phew… Anyway, it seems I’ve passed one turn.’
It was just a relief that her disgust towards men didn’t reach its peak and send her running away.
CLUNK-
She placed her hand on the doorknob. I stepped back lightly, waiting for her to come out.
Creeeak—
After a few tries of sticking her foot outside, she finally managed to step out. Her head was bowed low, but her gaze was fixed on my feet.
“… Ah, hi…?”
“Ahh?”
‘Ha… just fix the pronunciation a little…’
I felt like pulling my hair out, but when Yeon-hee met my clumsy greeting with her gaze, she surprisingly lifted her head and looked into my eyes.
“Oh… cute… the pronunciation is still the same?”
“Ugh…”
“Hehehee… that’s nice…”
“Uh…?”
Unexpectedly, it seems my clumsy pronunciation is effective in breaking down her guard. Of course, I don’t know why, but I might as well take advantage of it.
She couldn’t bring herself to come closer to me, but she circled around me within a certain radius, inspecting me closely. It reminded me of our first encounter.
“Il-wol… you were really tall from the beginning… you look over 190 cm.”
‘I’m 187. If I had good nutrition when I was younger, I might have reached 190.’
“Your face… it’s really pale… even in a suit, it looks like you were a rich young master, right?”
“Ugh?”
“Hehe… right, you said you didn’t remember…”
She pressed her fingertip against the other and stared intently at my face.
“Wow…”
“… Uh?”
“Oh, no… nothing…”
Yeon-hee’s face turned a deep red, and the blush traveled all the way down to her neck. Maybe she didn’t know how to handle the situation because of what was happening.
A strange man appeared in her nest. That makes complete sense. No matter how much she knows it’s my camouflage form, seeing a grown man in front of her must be something else.
“Hmm… um…”
Perhaps because of that, her reaction was markedly different from when she transformed into me. She hesitated to say something, trying to call it back repeatedly, and slowly started closing the distance only to backtrack.
It would be ideal to calmly wait for her decision, but time was limited. Though it was an opportunity that came every day, somehow, there are things that need to happen today.
Life is all about timing, isn’t it? In order to create a turning point between us, I ultimately had to step in. I needed to rebalance the power dynamics that tilted sharply yesterday.
‘Should I help a bit…?’
SWISH—
I took a step forward. Immediately she stepped back two paces.
“Hey, wait! Pl-please stay still! I’m not ready yet—”
What do you mean ready?
I hopped forward a few times and quickly got closer to Yeon-hee.
Yeon-hee, startled, turned away completely to run but I grabbed her waist and hands, pulling her in close.
“Kyah!”
With her eyes shut tight, a small creature was trembling in front of me like it had just been electrocuted.
“Ugh… why… d-don’t do this…”
Her face displayed not just embarrassment but fear. But I could tell that wasn’t a bad sign.
‘Such a tiny one caused me so much trouble yesterday.’
“Ahhh… just give me a moment. Let me go.”
She was in a state of complete panic, flustered and couldn’t figure out what to do.
Her eyes darted around like a lost child, trying desperately to tilt her head away from me in an attempt to create distance.
‘Wow, so cute…’
I alternated my gaze between her moist lips and her mysterious violet eyes.
“Ughh… why… d-don’t look at my mouth…”
“Ah…”
When I was a skeleton, I could look wherever I wanted without restrictions, but now she immediately caught on to where I was looking. Add that to the list of reasons it’s not good to be human.
My left hand still wrapped around her waist, while my right hand gently brushed her hair aside.
“Ahh… Hah… Il-wol…”
‘This would be the moment for some smooth talk, but all I can manage is a sigh… the mood isn’t building up at all.’
But staying like this wasn’t bad either. The tight pose let me feel the texture of her generous chest, and the sudden curve from her waist to her pelvis was enough to wrap with one arm.
‘This is driving me crazy… If it weren’t for [Calm]…’
“Ughh… Aah…”
She moved like a baby bird trembling, her delicate movements completely fragile, and her glistening eyes sparkled brighter than any jewel.
I was drawn closer to her face, seemingly enchanted.
“Huh…”
Now her cheeks were barely brushing against mine, and a slight movement of my head would bring her smooth neck and collarbone into view, stimulating my senses.
“Haa—haa… Huh…”
Despite being completely caught by me, she tried to ensure her emotions remained hidden.
‘You can show everything. You’re probably just not used to it, poor thing…’
A small and delicate girl, not accustomed to showing her feelings to anyone.
But that changed quickly. Yeon-hee no longer could hide her ragged breathing.
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