Ability Reveal (1)
Ability Reveal (1)
After clearing Stage 10—which I'd expected to struggle with—with surprising ease.
I watched the others take their exams, feeling much more at ease.
...While sitting pressed right up against Alice.
"Yujin, how do you fight so well? Just thinking about it scares me..."
-Squeeze. Squeeze.
'Wow, her skin was really firm... No, what kind of sexually harassing thought was that?'
My rational mind cried out.
My body might have been twenty, but my mind was thirty-five.
And I was getting horny over a much younger girl? Was I out of my mind?
She was still in her early twenties. Get a grip.
But instinct was honest.
Wow, insane. This was Alice and she was my wife.
My lower half kept trying to draw its sword, which was a serious problem.
"Yujin... Yujin? What's wrong?"
"N-no. It's just, um... I think fighting is fun..."
So even after showing off something impressive, I still stammered like an idiot.
Alice, with no idea what was on my mind, just kept chattering away.
Meanwhile, in the distance...
-Mutter mutter.
"Seriously, I can't even. What's with that bitch?"
'Sorry, Sia...!!!'
My second wife, Yoo Sia, stood with her arms crossed, glaring this way.
...I knew exactly how she felt.
I'd finally found the talent I'd been looking for, someone perfect for Dad's clan.
And I'd even gone out of my way to deal with the reporters making a scene for her.
But no, he's off talking to that pink-haired girl, not even a glance this way.
Ugh, so annoying. When is their conversation going to end?
She was probably frustrated with something like that.
Feeling inexplicably sorry, I kept stealing nervous glances at her.
"Hmph. Yujin, do you know that woman?"
"H-huh?"
"You keep looking somewhere other than at me."
"......."
And then Alice got sulky.
I'd been slow to answer because I was watching Sia, but it seemed even she felt a little hurt by this.
Left with no choice, I opened my mouth as if offering an excuse.
"You know the Cheonhwa Clan, right? She's the clan leader's daughter. Yoo Sia."
"......Really?!"
"Yeah."
Alice's eyes went round at the name Cheonhwa.
It was a natural reaction.
The Cheonhwa Clan was the strongest clan in South Korea, with a reputation that reached even overseas.
Being the clan leader's third daughter was practically the same as saying she was a chaebol heiress.
"See that outfit? It probably costs several hundred million won."
"A few hundred million!?"
The clothes she was wearing were top luxury among top luxuries.
It was made from fabric that only rarely dropped inside Gates.
It was special equipment that raised the wearer's stats—what awakeners called an 'Artifact.'
...Sia herself was embarrassed by how little of her it covered whenever she wore it, but anyway.
Only then did Alice look at me as if seeing me in a new light.
"I thought you were looking because you found her sexy, Yujin."
"......."
'I mean, that was part of it.'
For now, she was wearing it around because she had a number of reasons, but...
Eventually, she'd call it embarrassing and stuff it in the back of a wardrobe.
Seeing her in that outfit was a limited-time thing.
So my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her even more.
But I couldn't explain all that, so I just laughed it off.
"Anyway. So, Alice, how far do you think you'll make it?"
"I..."
"Cadet Number 23, Alice Littenwood. Step forward."
"Ah."
As we were talking, Alice's turn came up.
She stood with a regretful smile, reluctant to leave.
"I'll show you. I'm actually pretty strong myself."
"......?"
'Wait, she wasn't usually a girl with this much confidence.'
She left behind words completely unlike anything she'd said in the First Round.
* * *
Alice's mockery had stayed with Yoo Sia.
Yoo Sia had been waiting for her chance.
As soon as that Vixen went off to take her exam, she would steal the seat right next to this up-and-coming S-rank.
The girl would eventually return from her exam.
Sia would show her that she was the one at his side now, would make sure she watched Sia grinding her teeth exactly the same way.
Her chance came quickly.
"Cadet Alice Littenwood..."
'Now was the moment!'
"I'll head right back."
Seizing the moment Alice left, Sia headed straight for Yujin.
Yujin's eyes met hers.
-Beaming.
'As expected. She'd come right over.'
"What business does a celebrity have with me?"
"......!!!?"
'Wow... this was the life.'
The heart that had been filled with anger subsided with a single eye-smile from him.
She hadn't known when watching from a distance, but now that she was seeing him up close?
He was so handsome that even someone as picky as her let out a startled squeak.
And moreover,
-Ba-thump.
'But he felt oddly familiar....'
Déjà vu.
Though he was clearly a man she was meeting for the first time, delight at seeing him again washed over her as if they'd spent decades together.
Her once-ferocious expression filled with shyness.
'Did my clothes look weird? Ugh, what if he thought I was the sort of girl who went around wearing this kind of thing?'
"I-I saw your fight earlier. You were amazing..."
"Yeah. Ah, right. The reporters not making a scene, that was thanks to you, wasn't it? Thank you."
"......Uh, yeah."
'He was even kind!'
Her voice grew smaller and smaller.
She had clearly planned to stick right to his side and bewitch him, just like that Vixen had done moments ago.
Instead, embarrassed by her outfit, she twisted her legs together and covered her exposed cleavage with one hand.
Yoo Sia's naturally modest personality had come through.
It was a world away from the confident persona she'd been putting on, acting as the youngest daughter of the strongest clan.
Yujin gave a vague smile.
"......?"
'What was this? Usually she was supposed to stick right to my side and all that. Why was she the exact opposite of Alice?'
It was entirely different from the First Round version he remembered.
He'd assumed she'd boast loudly about how she'd helped him, talk up her clan, and all that.
But she wasn't showing any sign of it.
'Could it be... she didn't like guys who won too easily!?'
One great big misconception bloomed.
The difference between the First Round and the Second Round was how he'd cleared Stage 10.
In the First Round, when he'd nearly died and barely cleared it, she'd shown him goodwill.
But in the Second Round, where he'd easily dominated, she was awfully awkward...
Ah! So she was the type who liked it when the guy struggled to win!
Conversely, Alice liked being overwhelmingly dominant!
Who knew my wives had these kinds of preferences?
I'd used hypnosis in the First Round, so I'd never known.
It was a monumental misconception.
'I was hoping Sia and I could get along well from day one... I really, really didn't know these girls at all.'
"You want to sit down for now? You came because you had something to say, right?"
"Uh, yeah..."
Yoo Sia sat down gingerly.
She left at least seventy centimeters between herself and Yujin.
It was a world away from how Alice had been pressed right up against him moments before, their skin practically brushing.
'Uh... what should I even start with? Tell him to join the Cheonhwa Clan? No, that'd sound way too cheap. Well, you see....'
"......."
'He wasn't even going to ask my name? This was awkward enough to kill me.'
Silence stretched on, one of them shy and the other awkward.
Nearly thirty seconds of silence passed between them.
That silence was shattered by a deafening explosion.
-KWA-BOOOOOM!!!!
"...Eek!!?"
"Hm?"
Both of their gazes turned toward the same spot.
Their gazes landed on the center of the sparring ground, inside the barrier where the cadets were taking the entrance exam one after another.
Alice, who had just left, was holding a staff and drawing a V-sign toward Yujin.
'She thought she'd make a move on Yujin while I was gone? Not a chance.'
"...What the hell is that?"
'That Vixen actually used fire magic!?'
Dismay flashed across Yoo Sia's face.
The flames whirling around Alice. And the staff.
It was clearly a magic-type ability, which was exceedingly rare even among awakeners.
And a very powerful one, at that.
'Ha, dammit, I didn't like that bitch... did I really have to get friendly with her, too?'
As a clan officer, Sia desperately wanted to recruit that talent.
Personally, though, she found the bitch infuriating.
For the first time, her tongue stopped tying itself in knots from embarrassment.
"She's pretty good."
"I, I know, right...? I had no idea she was that strong."
'What the hell? Why was she so strong?'
Meanwhile, Yujin was bewildered.
Because he knew Alice's Innate Talent and its rank.
『Fiery Master (A Rank) - When using fire-type magic, reduces mana consumption and casting time. Amplifies power and range.』
'That much destructive power from an A-rank skill, and right from the entrance exam, at that? This didn't make sense.'
What differed from what Yujin knew was the firepower.
With his extensive experience, he noticed just from the sound alone that the magic Alice had just used was far from ordinary.
The result. Both of them focused their attention on Alice.
"You were amazing, but she's amazing too. Crushing everything with pure firepower like that."
'Though I don't like it.'
"Yeah. It's unbelievable."
'Seriously, what was this? It was completely different from before I'd regressed. I'd have believed it if someone told me it was an S-rank skill.'
Leaving behind the awkward atmosphere, a gentle conversation continued.
In that time, Alice steadily broke through the stages.
Stage 2, Stage 3. Stage 4. Stage 5.
Stage 6.
'In the First Round, she stopped at Stage 7. Once she couldn't suppress them in one hit, she got scared and withdrew...'
-KWA-BOOOOOM!!!
'That was one hit too? No way that was only A-rank!'
She easily passed through Stage 7, where Alice had stopped before the regression.
Ultimately, her challenge came to a halt after she finished Stage 8.
"Up to here is enough for me."
"You're not challenging Stage 9?"
"I don't think I can catch that one."
Alice Littenwood.
Final result. Withdrawal at Stage 9.
Consternation filled Yoo Sia's expression.
'She was the same rank as me? Why her, of all people, seriously!?'
"......."
'What was this. Could Alice have regressed too... There's no way. If she'd regressed with me, knowing her personality, she'd have thrown herself straight into my arms.'
Yujin also had a look of clear bewilderment.
Only Alice was unruffled after finishing her exam.
And then...
"Yujin, how was I?"
"Yeah. You were strong..."
"Well, of course. You couldn't take your eyes off me."
-Grin.
'Too bad, Yoo Sia.'
———Alice immediately began teabagging her.
At her insufferably composed smile, Yoo Sia's dying anger was once more set ablaze.
"...Hah?"
'Was this Vixen serious? There was a limit to how insidious someone could be.'
The meaning contained in every flash of that gaze was far too vividly clear.
Yujin only looked at me even though he was sitting with another woman. Just how little charm did you have for that to happen?
But of course. Even running around half-naked only showed off your typically slender East Asian figure, so I supposed it made sense.
Oops, my breasts are so heavy. I'd better support them with my arm.
The sound of teeth grinding echoed out.
"Hoo. Hey, you. Alice Littenwood, was it? I saw you out there. You're pretty good."
"Hehe. Thank you for thinking so."
"......But I'm stronger."
The two of them sprang to their feet and faced each other.
Alice's leisurely eye-smile and Yoo Sia's challenging glare clashed sharply against each other.
Only Yujin was baffled.
'What was this, some kind of battle-series development...? Nothing like this happened in the First Round. Huh?'
"Cadet Number 24, Yoo Sia. Step forward."
"I'll show you. Yujin. You watch closely, too."
In Yoo Sia's eyes, fury and fighting spirit surged.
"I'll make it so you can't take your eyes off me."