“…Later on, if you’re gonna mess with someone, make sure it’s not a Hunter. Imagine walking along and suddenly getting blown up—terrifying…” Watching all of this unfold, my mind was already set on a decision, but an unsettling thought crossed my mind. “Wait a sec… I think I can’t beat anyone, yet here I am thinking about challenging other professionals. Do I have a death wish or something?”
Feeling horrified at my own reckless thoughts, I saw ViniVini turn around and flash me a triumphant ‘yeah’ gesture. “Rogied~ I won~ Hehehehe~”
Watching her giggle smugly, I felt an overwhelming wave of self-pity wash over me as the supposed Hero who couldn’t even hold a candle to such a quirky girl. My frustration brewed until I flippantly waved my hand and replied, “Alright, alright, I get it. You’re amazing, okay?”
“Of course I am~” ViniVini grinned from ear to ear.
I didn’t have the energy to respond further and silently trudged out of the forest. Passing through the dense trees, I came to a massive pit and cautiously peered inside.
Countless jagged wooden stakes lined the bottom of the chasm. The Crystal Lord's enormous, glittering body was impaled and pinned against them.
“It's because it was too hard at first, you see," ViniVini began explaining with pride. "So I had to soften it up a bit. First, I electrocuted it, then blew it up with some bombs. After that, I doused it with ice, fire, and water until it finally got tender enough… and voilà! The stakes could pierce through it easily~”
I couldn’t help but instinctively shield my lower half, feeling a sudden chill run up my legs.
“Alright then, I’ll head down to disassemble this big guy. Rogied, you wait up here.” Without waiting for an answer, ViniVini leapt confidently into the pit, landing squarely atop the Crystal Lord’s corpse. She unsheathed her dagger and plunged it fiercely into the Lord’s crystalline skull, beginning to carve through its tough shell with precise strokes. The sound of slicing filled the air, but my gut told me something wasn’t right. Amidst her cutting, an eerie scraping sound—different from her dagger’s work—drew my attention.
“Wait… is that…” I squinted at the scene below, my heart suddenly racing. I looked down further, and there it was. The Crystal Lord’s massive tail was dragging along the dirt floor before rising ominously, aiming straight for the unaware ViniVini.
“ViniVini!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Behind you! The tail!”
“Behind me? Tail?” ViniVini tilted her head, then reached back to pat her own hips in confusion. “But I don’t have a tail…”
My jaw dropped. My party member—the proud, audacious Hunter—was suddenly acting like a complete ditz when her life was literally on the line!
Because she hesitated, the Crystal Lord’s tail slammed forward with terrifying speed, skewering ViniVini clean through her body and hoisting her high into the air.
My face went pale, my heart seemingly frozen as I witnessed this horrifying moment.
But then, in a surreal twist that left me utterly dumbfounded, ViniVini let out a casual “Ow,” yanked the venomous spike out of her gut, and fell limply to the ground as if nothing had happened.
Apart from looking a little pale, she seemed completely fine.
Suddenly, her skill flashed through my mind—her passive ability 【Natural Airhead】—which could negate one instance of damage.
“Damn it! Why is my passive nowhere near that useful?” I grumbled internally, my heart sour with envy. Despite my emotions, though, I quickly jumped down into the pit to check on her, my worries winning out.
“You okay?” I asked nervously.
ViniVini rubbed her rear and slowly sat up, muttering, “I’m fine… but I think I might’ve gotten poisoned. Feels so—ugh—hot!”
Alarmed, I jumped in to stop her when she began tugging at her clothes. “Wait! What’re you doing?! Stop!”
“I’m poisoned.” She pointed stubbornly at the purple discoloration on her belly, smooth and flat but now marred.
Turns out 【Natural Airhead】 could block damage but didn’t prevent negative effects. Learning more about her ability, I patted her shoulder consolingly. “Put your clothes back on. I’ll help.”
ViniVini tilted her head, confusion gleaming in her eyes. “Are you a healer or a priest, Rogied? I’ve heard Scholar-class healers specialize in curing effects, and light-elemental magic users who become priests can cast dispel spells once they level up enough!”
“No, nothing like that." I waved her curiosity aside with an exaggerated shrug. Drawing my sword—Yubis, the Blade of Good—I held her bewildered gaze for a moment before plunging the blade directly into her belly.
ViniVini let out a surprisingly melodramatic “Ah!” before collapsing in mock agony, fainting theatrically on the spot.
Removing Yubis, a system prompt informed me that her poisoning had been successfully cured. “Alright, get up. I know you’re pretending. My sword only heals and removes debuffs; it doesn’t actually hurt anyone.”
“Hehe~ You caught me~” She giggled, scrambling to her feet. Her clothes, already shredded from the battle, barely held together now—reduced to a pitiful collection of tattered fabric.
When she stood, however, her delicate, snow-white chest openly greeted my vision, making heat rise to my face as I hurriedly averted my gaze.
“Get something to cover yourself…”
“Cover what?” she asked cluelessly.
I pointed toward her bare chest, earning a puzzled stare. “We’re both girls, you know. It’s fine,” she dismissed casually.
“I’m… a guy.”
“Ah?”
“I said, I’m a guy.”
Turning back to face her, I didn’t bother hiding as my eyes swept over her exposed figure. I couldn’t help but marvel to myself—*Wow… Just beautiful.*
Still clearly unconvinced, ViniVini narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. To silence her disbelief, I tore off the upper layer of my skirt to reveal my shirtless, flat chest—or what was supposed to clearly establish my gender as male.
She froze. Then, as her face turned an unmistakable shade of red, she fidgeted awkwardly—still standing there with her front fully uncovered.
I sighed and took the fabric strip from my skirt, wrapping it around her upper body to shield her.
“There, settled. You saw mine, I saw yours. I’d say we’re even, wouldn’t you?”
She nodded shyly, softly stammering, “I… suppose…”
How adorably clueless. Honestly, if it were Anjelit instead, she would’ve beaten me into the dirt already. Still, I found myself lingering over the thought—*her chest, though petite, was beautifully… graceful.*
After tying the makeshift wrap, ViniVini resumed dismantling the Crystal Lord’s colossal remains. Despite her efforts, the sheer size of its body meant she could only salvage key parts: its skull armor, pincers, and that enormous tail.
Even this collection was daunting, towering high beside her. I found myself staring at the heap, utterly baffled. “How’re we supposed to haul all this back?”
“We’re gonna drag it, of course!” she answered enthusiastically, grabbing at one of the Crystal Lord’s massive pincers and trying to pull it along. Instead, she overbalanced and fell face-first into the dirt.
Barely holding back laughter, I clamped a hand over my mouth.
Fuming, ViniVini rubbed her nose, pouting in frustration. “All that hard work killing it, and now we can’t even take it back? What was the point?”
“Maybe we could head back to Lazio Town and ask the townsfolk to help?” I suggested.
Relieved, ViniVini beamed at me. “That’s brilliant, Rogied! Wait—are you hurt?” She pointed at a scratch on my arm that was bleeding slightly.
Glancing down, I dismissed her concern with a wave, recalling my own passive ability 【Narcissism】.
“No need. Just tell me I’m handsome, and I’ll be all fixed up.”
“You’re handsome," she chimed immediately.
I winced. “Ugh—that’s not… You’re supposed to say *I’m* handsome!”
“That's what I *meant*—me! I am handsome…” ViniVini trailed off, clearly not understanding my frustration, her face a picture of innocent confusion.
I sighed heavily, exasperated. “Say ‘Rogied is handsome,’ alright?”
“…Rogied… is handsome.” She hesitated, but managed to get the words out.
Instantly, I saw the glowing text before me: *HP +20.*
By the time my health crept back to a full 4500/4500, my face was flushed with excitement—and exhaustion. ViniVini's throat was dry from repeating the phrase endlessly, while I felt like I’d just been running a marathon.
Though it had its drawbacks, the activation of my 【Narcissism】 skill proved surprisingly worthwhile today.
Reflecting on everything, it hadn’t been such a bad day overall—getting teleported from the start zone into mid-air, getting stuck with two quirky-yet-minorly-functional passive abilities, and most importantly, meeting the Hunter with the clueless charm: ViniVini.
Still, one thing nagged at me; although I’d helped defeat the Crystal Lord, I wasn’t partied with ViniVini—no shared experience meant I didn’t level up at all.
And on another note…
Standing there in nothing but a skirt and underclothes, I couldn’t shake the realization: I probably looked like an outright pervert.
