Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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"Consider it an honor. It's extremely rare for me to spend even a few days of my time on one person."
What the hell is she suddenly talking about?
She'd been quietly watching Yi So-ha's first-floor trial for once, but now her madness had flared up again, and she was spouting nonsense.
[Then you can head back now.]
"Tch. Isn't your reaction a bit too cold? I'm the goddess of beauty, you know. Or do I need to turn into a snake to pique your interest even a little?"
Please don't.
It's true my outer appearance is that of an imoogi, but my tastes are still the same as when I was human.
[Don't interfere and stay quiet.]
I infused my words with a plea for her to stop doing anything weird, and she shrugged lightly—whether it was a joke or not—before turning her eyes back to the screen.
"What on earth about that girl has captured your heart?"
But she couldn't stay quiet. Less than a minute after looking at the screen, Aphrodite's mouth started moving again.
This time, though, it wasn't to provoke a reaction from me. It felt more like she was mumbling to herself, questioning her own thoughts.
"No way! You're really a first-floor climber?!"
"We just took the trial together, didn't we?"
"That's exactly why it's unbelievable! Are you some martial artist or mage from another world too?!"
"Calling people from other dimensions that in front of them isn't the best choice. And if you've just entered the Tower, don't go wandering around alone—head to Hong Yeom for training and education on the Tower. At least during that time, your food and lodging will be taken care of naturally."
Yi So-ha was being interrogated by another climber who'd apparently taken the trial in the same place after she finished the first floor and returned.
From what I'd heard, he was an Earth-born climber like her. So why was he suddenly yelling at her like he was angry?
"Ah, as expected of climbers from a weak planet with no abilities whatsoever. So many worthless trash like that."
Aphrodite just wrinkled her nose, brushing off the situation far more naturally than I could have.
It seemed like this kind of thing happened often in the lower floors.
Yi So-ha was only briefly flustered at first before regaining her usual calm expression and walking past the man back to her lodging.
"Seriously, what was the Tower thinking, bringing in such weaklings? Earth right away? Every climber from there has been a total idiot."
It was inevitable that rumors about Earth-born climbers would spread through the Tower after ten days.
Dropped here without any power, adapting to the Tower was tough for them from the start.
Most of them threw tantrums demanding to be sent home because they didn't want to fight, and whenever they tried mimicking some half-baked technique after seeing something weird, they ended up getting hurt.
Earth-born climbers were useless idiots who could barely swing a sword.
That was the evaluation spreading through the Tower now.
"But how is this Yi So-ha girl so different?"
Aphrodite's eyes gleamed as she stared at Yi So-ha.
What thoughts were brewing in those eyes?
Seeing Yi So-ha so blatantly different from the other climbers, was she connecting the dots to something special?
Gulp.
Unfounded worry made me sneak a glance at Aphrodite and swallow dryly.
If she realized Yi So-ha was the singularity, in the worst case, I'd have to silence her right here.
"More than that, she seems to be blooming more beautifully as time passes. How stunning would she be once that lovely gem falls away?"
[Hmph.]
At least the worst-case scenario I imagined wasn't unfolding right now.
Luckily, Aphrodite was obsessed with beauty, so she was more interested in Yi So-ha's looks than her strength.
Otherwise, a star might have plummeted right here.
And after deftly avoiding that powder-keg situation without even realizing it, what was Aphrodite thinking now?
'How can I get that imoogi to look at me?'
Outwardly, it seemed like she'd shifted the topic, but inwardly, she was still racking her brain to seduce this one indifferent imoogi.
'Ugh, my pride's wounded.'
Who would reject her charms?
Regardless of gender, everyone should fall for her beauty and body.
'But what the hell is that?'
Yet here, in this place, her common sense was crumbling.
Had anyone ever ignored her words before?
Had anyone frowned at her coquettish smile?
Even when she subtly pressed her body close to flaunt her figure or seduced outright with her enchanting voice, not a twitch.
'He's not impotent.'
She had an innate ability to sense a partner's sexual information.
And this ability told her he was an incredibly healthy male.
But. But then why the hell...
Glance.
[...What? Is there something on my scales?]
'Why is he so indifferent?!'
Did she really have to transform into something like that imoogi?
But that had just been a joke.
Aphrodite began seriously contemplating whether to actually follow through on her throwaway remark.
'If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've just dumped it on someone else.'
She'd stepped up first, and now her pride was taking hit after hit.
He was a being who'd formally entered the Tower as a guest from an external dimension.
She'd come to scout and recruit him after identifying him, but he showed zero interest, so recruitment hadn't even been attempted.
[Good. This should satisfy her this time.]
'At least I'm gathering intel.'
The more she learned, the more she doubted if he was really a constellation like them.
Of course, coming from outside, he might differ from her and the other constellations.
'How much elixir is he just handing out?'
Even so.
Wasn't indiscriminately showering climbers with elixirs a bit much?
'That imoogi. Is he really under the same penalties as us?'
Normally, when a constellation sponsored a climber, their own power was consumed based on the value, and the Tower imposed penalties.
The power consumption recovered naturally over time, but the problem was the Tower's penalties afterward.
'They strike at the soul itself, unrecoverable by ordinary means.'
And how painful they were.
Aphrodite, who'd lain bedridden for days after sponsoring a single ordinary cosmetic, was casually handing out elixirs that even upper-floor climbers would fight over, without a care. It was baffling.
Sometimes sparks flew around her body, signs she was under the same penalties, yet she remained unfazed. How?
"Ah! Thank you so much, Constellation!"
"...That's not the direction you're facing."
Seeing Yi So-ha bow in the wrong direction on the screen, Aphrodite muttered unconsciously.
Blind yet wielding such power. Impressive.
[Hmph. No need to worry about it.]
'He really doesn't fit his modifier.'
For a constellation with the modifier "Black Despair," he wasn't that malevolent.
If anything, his actions so far made him seem like the biggest pushover constellation out there.
Bzzz.
'Hm?'
At that moment, a faint vibration came from Aphrodite's earring.
The earring she used to communicate with other constellations was reacting.
She naturally touched it and began receiving the incoming message.
-Aphrodite. It's been days. Why haven't you sent the intel? Don't tell me you've been rolling in bed again and forgotten?
Rolling in bed? What kind of talk was that?
She was struggling just to converse, and that was their opener?
Aphrodite briefly considered replying with curses but shook her head. No, that wouldn't do.
'If only. But he's such an iron wall. Getting even one piece of info is insanely hard.'
-Days have passed already, and you haven't bedded him?
Exactly. Shockingly, it was true.
Aphrodite let out a self-deprecating chuckle at the disbelief in the other's voice.
Even they thought it was ridiculous, huh?
-No helping it. Aphrodite, use that if you have to. Extract the intel from him.
'Hey, you don't trust me?'
Aphrodite's eyes narrowed at the words.
Using that meant admitting her face and body weren't enough.
For someone with her narcissism, it was beyond an insult to her pride—it was mortifying.
-I've heard Freyja from Asgard is heading your way.
'What? Why is that one moving all of a sudden?'
-What else? Obviously the same goal as us.
Freyja.
A rival whose name came up alongside Aphrodite's in debates over who was the true goddess of beauty among constellations.
Of course, Aphrodite considered Freyja far beneath her, but among the others, it was surprisingly close.
-If Freyja gets there and seduces him...
'......'
-I trust you understand without me spelling it out.
Gulp.
Days spent in the same space with him, yet zero gains for Aphrodite.
Meanwhile, Freyja, starting much later, would achieve her goal first.
Who wouldn't say Freyja's charms outshone hers?
Crunch.
'Fine. I'll do it!'
She absolutely couldn't lose to that Freyja.
Aphrodite squeezed her eyes shut and carefully pulled a waist cord from her belt, fastening it on.
'Cestus. Release.'
Aphrodite's magical girdle.
But she loathed using it.
The reason? It denied her world, where she was the most beautiful, and all love and affection should be directed at her.
Fwoosh.
The effect of the Cestus.
It transformed her into the being the target held the most affection for in their heart.
Grind.
Confirming her new form— no longer her original body—Aphrodite chewed on her fury with a deeply humiliated expression.