On a desolate plain, a girl in simple adventurer gear was strolling forward, unhurried.

That was Alicia. She stared straight ahead, indifferent to her surroundings. No caution about walking alone in a place this empty. Like a harmless fat sheep waiting to be eaten.

Alicia yawned. She’d walked half a day and hadn’t seen a single soul.

Is this really where the bandit gang prowls?

Alicia started to doubt it.

She cast a covert glance into the distance. No one was visible, but that tight lock of aura on her reminded her Larry was watching her every move from afar.

After talking it over, they’d settled on a honey trap. Use Alicia’s beauty as bait to lure the bandit gang to attack her.

Larry’s original plan was to beat them down, interrogate them, and pry out the location of their lair. Alicia found that too boring. She wanted a harder route: slip into the base on looks alone, then extort where they stash their treasure, and wipe them out inside and out.

The goal was the same as Larry’s brute-force sweep, and Alicia’s way was much more trouble. Larry still agreed.

They had more than enough strength as a safety net. Alicia’s body had changed, but her original power was well preserved.

From the start, Alicia and Larry agreed: they weren’t risking their lives for a final reward. They were here to savor the adventure.

Like raiding a Demon King’s castle. The quests they took and those classic main-character moves were to taste the grind and joy from the games and anime of their past lives, even suppressing their overwhelming power on purpose.

This bandit job was the same. They took it reluctantly to fund travel, but they’d still finish this boring task without cutting corners.

You still set precautions. This time Alicia runs wild; Larry keeps it steady.

Alicia sat down to make a fire and cook. She still wasn’t used to her current identity. Larry’s aura lock used to feel normal to her. Now it made her uneasy, like she was being seen naked.

Being seen wasn’t a big deal. Alicia had seen Larry’s bare butt in his past life and this one, and vice versa.

She thought it through. After a moment, she understood why.

When they joked around before, Larry had said he’d lock her in a basement and change her outfits. He’d said it dead serious, which creeped her out. Later, when executing the plan, he said to pick some cute dresses. That triggered a strong rejection in Alicia.

With those moments, plus the fact she’s truly a woman now, things got this awkward.

It’s all that damn gay bastard’s fault. I’m punching him when we get back.

Alicia ground her teeth and tossed wood into the fire. The ground gave a slight tremor, and it grew stronger.

Her rich adventuring experience told her a squad was closing in.

The bandits delivering money are here?!

Alicia’s eyes lit at once. She’d been bored to death.

They didn’t disappoint. It was the wanted bandit gang from the quest. A pack of burly, bald men on swift drakes charged in and surrounded Alicia. The flamboyant one in front could only be the bandit chief.

Alicia was about to test this newly acquired body with a beauty trap and charm these worldly-ignorant bandits senseless—

“You alone? Hand over everything valuable!”

The bandit chief barked at Alicia, rude as hell.

“Don’t yell at me. I’m, like, super quirky.”

Alicia pinched her fingers in a dainty pose and spoke in a soft, syrupy voice. She almost gagged. Her body reacted on its own.

What she didn’t expect was that the surrounding bandits actually threw up.

Twenty people vomiting at once was… a spectacular sight.

For a moment, Alicia couldn’t process what was happening.

Do people here have a totally different sense of beauty? In their eyes, she’s a turn-off, not a beauty?

“This woman’s disgusting, posing and acting all coy.”

“That bitch just tried to seduce us! She lumped us with those vulgar men. Insulting!”

“Yeah. Real men should go for men. Look at her, all frail and flimsy. She’d probably faint halfway through. What’s the point?”

“Boss, can I butcher this filthy broad? I feel my values got insulted!”

“Brothers, hold it. We’re wanted, business is bad in this region. Someone finally showed up. It’s a lowly thing and looks dirt poor. But that skin still pleases those vulgar folks. Sell her to the Red House for a good sum, and top up our True Men Bandit Gang’s funds.”

Alicia: (꒪ᗜ꒪)

In the middle of the ring, Alicia’s jaw nearly hit the ground. What did she just hear? What is this world? A bandit gang composed of actual gay men?!

No wonder they looked at her with disgust. Understood.

No—understood, my ass!

Alicia’s hair practically bristled. She didn’t discriminate against any orientation, but that didn’t give them a pass to insult her and pollute her mind!

She rolled up her sleeves and cracked her neck. She stacked a full set of buffs on herself, then said coldly, “Real men, huh? Frail, huh? Got the guts to go one-on-one? Of course, if you plan to ‘many versus one me,’ I won’t complain. Real men are great at ganging up on a skinny woman.”

“Damn it! I can’t stand her! Boss, let me teach her a lesson!”

A ‘true man’ bandit packed with muscle stepped out, roaring for permission.

The chief said sternly, “Fine. Watch the face. A scar drops the selling price. Don’t disgrace our True Men Bandit Gang. Tonight, you’re allowed in my room.”

The muscle-head trembled with excitement. “Yes, boss!”

“I can’t hold it anymore! Get lost!”

Alicia finally exploded.

One uppercut. The muscle-head turned into a daytime shooting star.

The bandits stared, dumbstruck, at the scene.

“I was gonna play nice with you lot. I could even call Larry to play along. But you’ve blown past my limit. Prepare to die.”

“You dare ambush my brother?! Brothers, take him down!”

Seeing Alicia wasn’t easy prey, the chief dropped the act and went for a gang rush.

“Devil’s Joke!”

With that shout, a pitch-black Yuan Staff appeared in Alicia’s hand. She pointed to the sky. Pale-blue Essence Force poured into the staff and turned into ominous black power.

“Water Rouse!”

“Idiot. Water Rouse is a range-wide mind boost. Haha, giving us a buff?”

The chief thought Alicia was a noob miscasting a technique. Then his mind wavered, and his strength started to slip.

“Fell for it, did you? I knew the enemy wouldn’t kindly announce a Yuan Technique name.”

The chief was decently strong. Unlike his underlings, he held on and stood firm.

“Oh?”

Alicia looked at him with some surprise. “By rights, you should have no spirit left.”

The chief forced himself upright. “Lowly bitch. I’m a true man. I won’t fall for shameless tricks like falsely calling a technique.”

“Heh. I didn’t lie.”

“Liar! Water Rouse is a buff Yuan Technique!”

“I used Water Rouse. Sadly, this artifact doesn’t agree.”

Devil’s Joke, a magic artifact: any Yuan Technique cast through this Yuan Staff is eaten by darkness. Buffs invert into debuffs. Destructive techniques gain dark corrosion.

“A magic artifact?! Damn you, who are you?! Whoever you are, I won’t submit!”

Alicia’s lips curled. “Heh-heh. Color me impressed. Goddess’s Blessing!”

(Yuan Technique: Goddess’s Blessing, dispels all negative statuses.)

Cast through Devil’s Joke, it became… applies every negative status.

The chief who’d just vowed not to submit hit the ground with a thud. Physical submission is still submission.