Lion's Roar Training #6
Lion's Roar Training #6
"I just said it reflexively, okay? Reflexively!"
Si-hoo's face flushed red as she realized the slip. She was even covering her flat chest with both arms. She was dressed, sporting bandages and all. So why the hell was she reacting like that?
Anyway.
I tended to agree with Si-hoo's point.
"Wait a sec. Si-hoo. You have a point."
"What...?"
"Weren't you the one who brought it up? I could totally feel it. You used a skill while in some kind of sealed state."
"And?"
"If you can unseal it and use it, the power will obviously increase. You agree with that, don't you?"
"Ah... yeah."
Si-hoo answered, still looking suspicious.
"So let's take off the bandages and try it out."
"Th-That's a bit...! I can do that on my own! Honestly, I get embarrassed when my chest bounces around for every little thing without the bandages!"
Damn, she just said something that explicit...!
But does it really bounce that much?
"R-Right. Makes sense."
I mentally paused to imagine Si-hoo's, uh, stuff bouncing. A way too specific mental image, considering I've already seen it in person.
Shake it off!
"But as embarrassing as it is, I can take off the bandages... and demonstrate it alone. Sure. But will you get an objective view that way?"
"What do you mean by objective view?!"
Still unable to shake off her suspicion, Si-hoo folded her arms over her chest and fired back with a reddened face.
"You need an observer. If I see it directly, I could more accurately judge how much the skill improved after unsealing it, right?"
"That's...!"
Si-hoo looked like she'd just realized a fundamental truth.
"That's true."
She nodded.
"I'm personally curious, Si-hoo. How far your abilities have grown. Si-hoo. We're in the same boat now. We need to keep tabs on each other's capabilities at all times."
"Why are you making it sound all grandiose... Still, you're right."
Si-hoo and I are already neck-deep in some conspiracy involving the Sovereign Commander and the Void Princess. We're basically two bodies with one soul.
"So since the subject came up, let's see it! The full strength of an unsealed Lee Si-hoo!"
For Si-hoo, the "seal" is those bandages. I can't say for sure, but since they're restricting her body, there's no way she can bring out her full power.
But if she removes them, how much stronger will she get?
Looking at it this way, it's like Si-hoo has a gimmick where she transforms from a man into a woman when she goes all out, but Si-hoo was a woman to begin with.
"Geun-cheol, you...! You just want to see my chest bouncing, don't you!"
"Hey! You're the one who brought it up first!"
I do want to see it, sure, but that is absolutely not my intention!
"Maybe so, but!"
"You're framing me!"
"Fine! I'll try it!"
"That's it! Now that's a real man's response, Lee Si-hoo!"
"I'm not a real man!"
Srrk.
Setting down her sword, Si-hoo glanced at my reaction and spoke.
"Then I'll just go to the bathroom for a sec..."
"Kay."
Honestly, even though I know Si-hoo's a woman, we've been living together long enough that interacting like this feels totally natural.
Creeeak.
Soon enough, Si-hoo, who had gone into the bathroom, poked her face out through the open door.
"Done?"
"Geun-cheol, some tape."
"What. No, hey. Just go to the next room and... grab a bra or something. Don't you have one?"
"W-Well, to be honest, I don't have a normal bra."
Seriously?
"You don't? For real?"
"It'd be a problem even if I did! I'm officially a guy! How could I walk around with women's underwear!"
"You'll have to get your hands on one soon. Anyway... here."
I handed her the first-aid kit. She stuck her hand out, snatched it, and closed the bathroom door again. There was a brief sound of rustling and taping.
"Alright."
Si-hoo emerged from the bathroom with a grimly determined expression.
"Whoa."
Those breasts were spilling over with overwhelming volume. Even though she was wearing an oversized boxy tee, everything showed right through.
"Where are you looking!"
"Your changed aura."
"Don't lie! I can see your eyes! You're staring at my chest!"
"Aw, don't sweat the small stuff! Now, here! Grab your sword, already!"
"Ghh... So embarrassing."
As Si-hoo stated, my gaze was glued to the general thoracic area. Anyway. Si-hoo took hold of her sword.
"Shall we begin, then?"
"Yep."
"Ah. But I think it works better when they're secured in place properly... Yeah, doing it out in the open like this feels weird."
"Just try it first."
"Alright."
And so.
Thud.
Si-hoo launched off the floor.
"Hahp!"
A blazing mana light burst from her eyes. And then she slashed a genuinely tremendous strike into the empty air.
Bzzzt.
A single sword strike. Yet its trajectory split into three. The delayed blue mana afterimages signaled that three attacks had been executed.
"Wow! It feels way better now!"
While I was blankly staring at Si-hoo's thoracic area, Si-hoo's eyes lit up as if she'd had an epiphany, and she got all excited.
"Geun-cheol! How was it! It was a bit better, right!"
Si-hoo was purely amazed and happy about it. She really does love it when she levels up, that one.
"Yeah. It felt a bit more... unleashed, I guess? Could be because it was the second time I'd seen it, but it was refreshing."
"I guess constraints really do exist. Haah. But I can't fight outside dressed this comfortably. It's really tough."
Thud.
I don't know if it was a reflexive action, but Si-hoo plopped down on my bed, grabbed her right breast, and let out a sigh.
"Uh. Well. When there's no risk of being caught, it's fine, isn't it? You just unseal and go all out in a fight all of a sudden."
"It sure sounds doable! You're basically telling me to suddenly strip my chest bare and fight!"
"I guess it could cause a bit of visual confusion for the enemy. And haven't you done it once already?"
Back in that higher dimension fighting that white centipede-looking flying monster, Si-hoo definitely fought with her chest fully exposed.
"Please don't make me recall that memory...!"
"Got it."
"Khh. Anyway, Geun-cheol. I'm gonna go re-wrap the bandages."
"Go ahead."
Si-hoo went back into the bathroom. I could hear the rustling sounds again. But seriously, what did she do with the tape? I know the answer, but I can't help wondering uselessly.
"Done. Better now?"
When Si-hoo came back out, every ounce of that volume had vanished.
"Are you sure it's better?"
"Stop obsessing over my chest! Ah, but, Geun-cheol? You said you got Lion's Roar training from the Chairwoman today, right? You show me too."
"Bingo."
"What?"
"Will it be fine? Carrying out a 'loud vocal performance' in a space with just the two of us."
"Ugh... Not that."
"It's no big deal. It's only the first day. She just looked over my mana flow for a bit this morning. It'll take at least a week of consistent practice to see any effects, I'd say."
Even though I got training from a peerless master like the Chairwoman, it was just a brief session, and it hasn't even been a full day yet.
Superhuman skills aren't something you just pick up in a day. Even if you have talent, it takes time.
"You're right. Still, once you perfect it, I'd like to hear it."
"I'll sing it so goddamn loud you'll wanna die."
"Ugh. Withdrawn."
"You're gonna listen! Hell, we can even go to a karaoke place! You, Missy, you said I sing weirdly!"
"Because it's true!"
Anyway, after bickering back and forth with Si-hoo like that, eating a meal, and killing time, I sent her back to her room.
"What a scary son of a bitch."
Pulling off a Triple Strike in the blink of an eye... That's gotta be hard, even if I tried to copy it. As soon as Si-hoo left, I grabbed a sword and tried to mimic it, but as expected, no dice.
"I've gotta get stronger."
Naturally, getting my hands on those Fragments is the fastest way to get stronger. I could feel the energy flowing in along with the memories.
Anyway, more importantly, that bastard Kitty told me to get ready before, but I haven't heard a peep since.
Ding.
A message came in. I checked it and it was Kitty.
[Geun-cheol, send gold.]
"You're insane! Throw every last one of them in jail!"
These are the goddamn gold-sucking goblins!
* * *
A dazed feeling.
"Ah."
Ever since returning home, she'd been in this state.
"..."
Having finished her shower, Woo Yu-ri sat blankly on the bed for a moment. How should she put it—her body just had no strength in it. A cozy feeling washed over her as drowsiness crept in.
"...Fuck."
Her shoulders were warm.
Her shoulders that Kim Geun-cheol had massaged earlier. He was surprisingly good at giving massages. So good, in fact, that it felt like all the fatigue built up until now had simply melted away.
Is that why?
Her body felt languid.
"That son of a bitch."
She played it cool and kept it subtle, but honestly, she'd been majorly pissed off.
I worried because the bastard said he was sick, and he was out sneaking off to beat people up? Even if she could let slide that he went off to have fun by himself, the fact that he lied to her face without batting an eye was just unforgivable.
Getting mad about that felt petty, and she thought maybe just chewing him out once would be enough, so she didn't really show it.
But still, there's no denying she was mad.
But.
"Ah."
The anger drained away.
She didn't feel any particular rage.
All she could feel was the warmth radiating from her shoulders.
Squish-squish.
Just recalling the sensation of receiving that massage made it feel like she was feeling the touch all over again. The warmth. From her shoulders to her back. Then to her chest. That warmth gently spread, wrapping around her entire upper body.
Flop.
The strength left her body.
Woo Yu-ri lay down just like that, feeling the drowsiness crash over her, and closed her eyes.
"Dying of sleep..."
It was that extreme drowsiness you feel when waking up early on a Monday morning. The kind of drowsiness that gets way worse precisely because you want to sleep more but can't.
Normally, that particular brand of drowsiness only hits on weekday mornings when you absolutely have to get up, and never on weekends when you can sleep in as much as you want. Likewise, you never feel it when you actually lie down to sleep at night.
Maybe it was because her body had warmed up. But right now, that very drowsiness was flooding in.
Slide.
Woo Yu-ri burrowed under the covers and surrendered herself to the languor. Her arms crossed, hugging her own shoulders.
'Kim Geun-cheol, you absolute dick... I'll let your bullshit slide this once.'