“Su Hong, um…”

Lia stood at the door, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel, looking at Su Hong.

Su Hong glanced helplessly at her grandpa’s tightly shut door. Left with no choice, he awkwardly walked back.

“Lia, about what your grandpa said just now. Didn’t he say you should stay in my room? I have an idea.”

The moment she heard that, Lia startled like a frightened little rabbit. With a tiny “eep,” she hid behind the door |ω･｀)

“No, no, I can’t. That’s way too embarrassing. And I-I sleep really restlessly…”

Huh?

Su Hong froze for a second, then quickly waved his hands.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I mean—”

Lia peeked at him from behind the door, but when the words reached his lips, Su Hong suddenly couldn’t say them.

He often kept people at a distance on purpose because of his luck, but he didn’t think he lacked emotional intelligence.

So his original plan had been simple. Let Lia take the room, and he’d sleep in the living room.

But after that misunderstanding just now, if he said he’d never meant that at all, wouldn’t that just make Lia even more embarrassed?

Forget it, forget it. Lia was his friend, after all. At a time like this, he might as well throw his image away.

Right. He’d shamelessly invite her one more time. Then after Lia refused, he’d pretend to come up with a new idea and move out himself, leaving the room to her.

Sure, it would make him look like some thick-skinned creep trying to take advantage of her. But that was still better than letting this awkward stalemate drag on.

“Lia, we’re friends, aren’t we? It’s fine. That bed is big enough for two anyway.”

“O-Okay then.”

“Really? If that’s the case, then I’ll move out—”

…

???

Su Hong went completely blank.

She agreed?

Why wasn’t she following the script, hey?!

She trusted him that easily? What if he were some kind of beast? How did she not have even a little guard up?!

“What were you saying you’d move?” Lia asked, a little confused.

Su Hong stared wide-eyed, glanced at the floor, then let out a helpless breath.

“I’m saying, Lia, you agreed way too easily. Aren’t you worried I might try something?”

“I’m not. I trust you.”

Her orange hair draped over her pink-white shoulders and fell across her chest. Lia looked at him with those bright amber eyes as she spoke, utterly serious.

In those eyes, there was more than innocence.

There seemed to be something else too. Something Su Hong had never imagined, something he couldn’t quite understand.

Yeah. Lia wasn’t the type to have no guard at all.

Back in prison, she hadn’t even been willing to sit at the edge of the bed.

“Fine, you win. You always go beyond what I expect. No wonder I keep wondering if you’re somehow immune to luck.”

“Luck? You really do like talking about that.”

“Well, one day you’ll understand.”

As he said that, Su Hong opened the bedroom door and invited Lia inside.

After closing the door and turning around, he found Lia standing in the room, stretching lazily.

“Mmm~~~~ haa…”

Under the moonlight, her skin, already pale as almond flesh, looked even whiter.

From behind, he couldn’t see her usual lovely figure clearly. But with the towel wrapped tightly around her, the curve of her waist and the lift of her hips were impossible to hide.

Su Hong hurriedly looked away. He walked to the desk and gathered up the blank Spirit Cards.

He’d originally planned to try making a Spiritcard Weapon for himself. Looks like that would have to wait until tomorrow.

After a few simple lines of small talk, Su Hong and Lia each hugged a blanket. They lay down on the bed uneasily, leaving a wide empty space between them.

The room fell into awkward silence.

For Su Hong, it was pure torture. He deeply regretted softening up and worrying about her feelings. There was no way he could rest properly like this.

Lia turned her head toward him nervously, as if trying to think of something to say. After a long while, she finally forced out a sentence.

“U-um… Su Hong, are you asleep?”

Su Hong’s eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling like an owl’s. Helplessly, he rubbed his forehead.

Who sleeps with their eyes open that wide? What, did she think I was Zhang Fei or something?!

“Not yet.”

“Oh, o-oh. Um, I sleep really restlessly, so… would you mind? If I wake you up when I turn over, just wake me, okay?”

“Of course I don’t mind. Don’t be so nervous. It’s fine.”

After giving her a simple reassurance, Su Hong just closed his eyes and prepared to force himself to sleep.

After all, Lia was his first friend in this world.

She was also the friend he’d decided not to distance himself from, the one he wanted to truly cherish.

Su Hong didn’t want to offend her in any way. Not even with his gaze. As for taking advantage of her, that was something he would absolutely never do.

With his eyes closed, he could sense that Lia seemed a little bored on the other side of the bed.

But for Su Hong, this was also the best choice.

Time trickled by bit by bit.

As Su Hong felt the rise and fall of his heartbeat, a strange, indescribable calm settled over him.

It was as if, in this stretch of time, everything from his limbs to his mind became clear and transparent.

What kind of fighting style he should use. What kind of Spirit Cards he should create. How he should handle Spirit Card inscription.

A rough outline of it all began to take shape.

Su Hong didn’t know how long that state lasted.

But what shattered the silence was an elbow strike.

“Ugh—!”

Su Hong jolted and shot upright with a start, only to realize that vicious elbow had come from Lia.

And she still seemed to be sleeping soundly, with a soft, adorable smile on her face…

“T-This girl… she really does sleep that restlessly? And how did she fall asleep without making a single sound?”

Su Hong rubbed his side, only to see one of Lia’s snow-white legs draped over the blanket. Her towel had long since come loose.

Between the scattered strands of her orange hair, there was vaguely the outline of something soft and round and cute.

“…Sigh.”

Su Hong let out a quiet sigh. He took the blanket himself and gently covered her up.

But just as he finished covering her and braced himself on one arm to go back—

Lia suddenly rolled over, grabbed his arm, and with a crack, twisted the joint backward. Then she yanked him and slammed him straight onto the floor with a thud!

“Aow— aaahhh!!”

Clutching his arm, Su Hong let out a pained howl. The noise finally roused Lia from her dazed sleep. She sat up, bleary-eyed, and looked around in confusion.

“Mmh… huh? Su Hong? Why are you on the floor?”

“You call that turning over?! Ow— ss, ss… Since when does someone roll over in their sleep and casually pull off a joint lock and a throw at the same time?! You did that on purpose, didn’t you?! Ow— my arm, my joint’s out of place! Ow!”

Su Hong held his arm, hissing in pain. But when he looked up, he realized Lia’s towel had already fallen off.

Her fair, enticing body was almost completely exposed.

Lia was panicking and about to help him up, but Su Hong hurriedly looked away first.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Get back under the blanket! Your towel— your towel fell off!”

“Eek——~~”

Only after he pointed it out did Lia look down and realize how bad it was. She quickly dove back under the blanket.

Then her face turned bright red with shame and guilt. Wrapped in the blanket like a little caterpillar, with only her head sticking out, she hurriedly hopped down onto the floor.

She lowered her head toward Su Hong, looking like she was almost about to cry.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t mean to…”

“Emmmmm…”

For a moment, Su Hong said nothing.

He even stopped hissing from the pain in his arm.

Lia was instantly terrified. She hurriedly hopped closer.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. P-please don’t scare me like that…”

Of course, Su Hong wasn’t trying to scare her.

And he wasn’t angry either.

It was because he had noticed something.

He was injured.

Actually injured.

This was unbelievable!!

In the past, with this cursed, hopeless life of his, he’d had thoughts of ending it more than once.

But if he touched electricity, the power would trip. If he jumped into water, some huge fish would carry him back to shore. Even jumping off a building somehow left him completely unharmed for one absurd reason after another.

And now, he was injured?!

Even if it was only a slightly dislocated joint, a tiny injury that would heal after a little bumping around, it was still enough to make him ecstatic.

So that meant—

Either Lia herself was just that miraculous…

Or the influence of luck in this other world had already weakened drastically!

Escaping luck was absolutely possible!

“Yahoo~! Lia, you’re amazing! Hooray! Hooray!”

Su Hong suddenly started cheering despite the pain, startling Lia so badly that she froze in place. Even the tears that were about to fall got scared back in.

Watching Su Hong celebrate with excitement, Lia’s heart went cold by half.

Oh no.

Don’t tell me Su Hong got his brain damaged from the fall?