The Dragon Head Meeting (1)
"Ugh, how gross..." What kind of question was that? Mental age of an adult? Maybe I should just abandon him somewhere on Earth and be done with it. The favorability of the guy who'd been staying strictly neutral in the great debates—dipping versus pouring, mint chocolate, tissues in soup, and gukbap factions—had just plunged into the negatives.
While I debated whether to dump him in the Arctic or Antarctic, the hero offered a flustered excuse.
"No, that's not what I meant! It's just... you seem incredibly mature! Even in battle you never panic. You block everything perfectly and fight like it's nothing, right?"
Oh. So that's what he was getting at.
"Ah. Of course I'm an adult on the inside. I was twenty-one before I possessed this body, so that makes me twenty-six now, right? I've been through puberty twice, so it's no wonder I come across that way."
Yes. I was an adult squared—an adult who'd endured puberty twice over. I decided to generously overlook the face he made at my words, the one that clearly asked, Then why does your body look like that? Judging someone on suspicion alone wasn't very adult of me. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the flattery had improved my mood.
The visibly relieved hero asked another question.
"Then why do you keep approaching Piony?"
His throat must have gone dry; he reached for the water on the nightstand and took a drink.
"Because I like her, obviously?"
Pfffft!
I caught every single droplet he sprayed with psychokinesis and sent it neatly into the sink.
"So... you mean as a friend, right...?"
"No. Since she was my favorite character in my previous life, if we're being precise, it's closer to romantic affection."
"But you... I mean... I'm not a bigot or anything, but this... it's not exactly a common relationship, is it?"
"If I recorded what you just said and spread it around America, you'd be socially buried in Western hunter circles, you know that?"
The hero grew momentarily dazed at the words "socially buried," but he quickly pulled himself together.
"You've probably noticed, but I have feelings for Piony too. So I won't give up easily."
He spoke with surprising seriousness. I flashed him a grin.
"Well, no matter how hard you try, I'll be the one laughing at the end. Don't worry—I'll introduce you to another girl later."
At my smile, a clear sense of rivalry flared in his eyes and he renewed his determination. Damn it. I'd wanted to reveal that I'd undergone a gender swap in my reincarnation, but his reaction had been so entertaining that I'd gotten carried away teasing him and missed my chance. Oh well. There would be time for that later.
"Before I ask my question, let me show you my abilities first. You've seen plenty of psychokinesis, right?"
With a casual wave, the glass of water on the table rose into the air. I spun it this way and that, even flipped it completely upside down, yet not a drop spilled.
"If I control it with psychokinesis, I can maintain its shape like this."
I hurled the glass at the wall. It struck with a clear clang, but both the glass and the water inside remained perfectly intact.
"It consumes mana equal to the impact absorbed, but even paper or glass can be used like steel plates."
"And what you saw in the auditorium was teleportation."
The floating glass had already returned to the table.
"You had two abilities?"
"Both require controlling a target, so using them directly on other ability users or monsters is pretty difficult."
Once my demonstration ended, the hero stepped forward.
"Then I guess it's my turn?"
He spent a long time pondering how to explain his power, then finally pulled out a tissue, held it above his head, and let it drop. The tissue fluttered down gently for a moment before suddenly plummeting straight to the floor.
"My ability is strengthening gravity on objects. At least, that's what I believe it is."
He explained it with surprising solemnity. So that's why he'd smashed that wooden bear so quickly.
"I've thought hard about ways to use and apply it, but what you just saw is everything I've figured out so far."
I was stunned. That ability... it was terrible. Among the main character's selectable powers, there hadn't been anything like this. Nothing this bad.
"Um... I'm sorry, but your ability... doesn't seem very useful in combat, does it?"
Of course, if he used it like the straight drop he'd just shown, it could still be applied somehow, but the versatility was abysmal. Was he planning to spend his whole life just smashing things from above? Even the hammer-wielding players from the monster-hunting game in my previous life hadn't been that limited.
"Yeah. I'm struggling to make good use of it myself."
"If your ability's performance is that low, how did you even get into the academy?"
"Pure physical specs. I made it this far with nothing but body reinforcement. Pretty impressive, right?"
Proud of himself, he raised his arm and flexed. The muscles visible beneath his uniform had a rather nice shape, but they weren't overly bulky since their source was body reinforcement rather than raw training.
While he was busy showing off, I secretly lifted my own arm. Even when I flexed with all my strength, it remained soft. No matter how much body reinforcement I had, the difference in arm thickness made my chest ache.
"You know body reinforcement has its limits, right? Even Iron Rhino ends up as a local punching bag eventually."
"Ah, that hunter who showed up at the entrance ceremony? Still, I should end up stronger than him, shouldn't I?"
"Well, that's true."
No matter how much you undervalued martial artists, they weren't at the level of complete pushovers.
"Anyway, I'll look into ways to supplement that ability later. So, next question!"
Even if his ceiling was low, raising his level and stats and outfitting him with artifacts would let him pull his weight. Besides, my intuition insisted that his ability wasn't limited to what he'd shown. And if my intuition was correct, it would prove far more remarkable than some one-trick drop attack.
I set my thoughts about the hero's ability aside for now. The real reason I'd come here was for the questions that came next.
"Our points of possession are different. So shouldn't we compare everything?"
I set the notebook and ballpoint pen I'd brought onto the desk.
"Everything...?"
"Everything. No omissions. The whole lot."
Even a simple comparison would take hours. Realizing this, the hero began slowly inching backward.
"Well... I actually have some business with Piony, so..."
"You're not leaving until we're finished."
With psychokinesis I yanked every tissue from the box and plastered them over the door with no gaps. The hero tried turning the knob, but the tissue-wrapped handle wouldn't budge.
"Shall we compare them one by one?"
Get over here!
Having wrung out even his previous-life knowledge, the now-gaunt-looking hero emerged into the hallway with a finally-calmed and energetic Piony.
The comparison hadn't yielded much. The web novel storyline we'd uncovered differed in fine details but followed largely the same major beats as my own knowledge. Was the gate at the entrance ceremony truly a coincidence? Why was Piony, the elf girl, suddenly rejected by nature? Not a single question had been resolved.
When we reached the hotel buffet by elevator, the meal had already been laid out despite our late arrival, and a few students were scattered among the tables. At the entrance, academy staff simply checked numbers instead of hotel employees, allowing us easy entry.
While the other two went to gather food, I waited at the table. The hero returned first, carrying a towering plate that looked like it might collapse at any moment—Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Western dishes all piled together with meat, vegetables, and carbs in abundance.
"Can you really eat all that?"
"Of course! I worked incredibly hard today and couldn't even eat breakfast!"
He declared this boldly and began inhaling the food. It was partly hunger, but perhaps he simply hadn't had many chances to enjoy such expensive meals before.
Next came Piony with a plate holding roughly half the hero's portion. True to her elven nature, it was mostly vegetarian. Mostly. Half the pile still consisted of rice and kimchi. The power of Korean food was truly formidable.
"You took quite a lot of kimchi, Piony."
"It looked delicious! The red color reminds me of autumn leaves. I've always wondered what cooked autumn leaves would taste like."
Apparently she hadn't known what kimchi was when she took it. The elf who then wrapped kimchi in rice and ate it—
"Euaaaa! What is this?! It's hot! No, it's cold but hot! Save me!"
She paid dearly for the sin of trying random things in another world for the first time.
"Hueeek... I can't eat this..."
It took two glasses of ice water before the elf's frenzy finally subsided. After that I introduced her to white kimchi, and she began enjoying her meal properly. The remaining kimchi, incidentally, was happily finished off by the hero.
"Aren't you hungry?"
The hero, noticing I was the only one without a plate, asked after my well-being.
"I brought my own food."
I took a lunchbox from my bag. Unfortunately there was no drink to go with it. Piony watched with clear curiosity.
"There are so many things to eat here. What did you bring?"
With their attention on me, I opened the lid. Inside was steak.
"It's volcano herb steak."
"Whoa... it's meat... I can't eat that..."
"Is it another suspicious-looking meat? The kind that makes you suffer if you eat it?"
"No, this doesn't cause any stamina damage. Would you like to try some?"
I smiled and used my fork to place a piece on the hero's plate. Having been burned once before, however, he simply looked back and forth between me and the meat with deep suspicion. I kept smiling until the pressure became too much; he reluctantly took a large bite.
Not long after it entered his mouth, his face crumpled and he chugged an entire carbonated drink in one go.
"Ugh, it's awful!"
"Chew it thoroughly. It's genuinely good for your body."
I then picked up a piece with my own fork and put it in my mouth.
"Eugh."
It tasted like eating a lavender-scented crayon.
"See? You think it's gross too. Go get some real food."
"No... I have to eat it all. For the stats..."
I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and emptied the lunchbox. Afterward I took out my notebook and carefully recorded the stat changes. Since he was one of my people now, I also jotted down the hero's stats in the corner.
"Eating stuff like that is why you're so frail and short..."
"Let's stop right there, shall we?"
"What? I'm only worried because you keep eating weird things."
I'd given her healthy options, shared future knowledge, and done all sorts of good things, yet she criticized me for being short? The atmosphere suddenly turned icy.
"Hic."
In the chilled silence, someone hiccuped. The elf was watching our quarrel with great interest. The hero didn't seem to be the source. And since I was a manly woman, it obviously wasn't me either.
When the hiccup sounded again, I turned to see a tall woman at the next table shrinking in on herself.
"I thought... there would be fewer people at this hour..."
Ah. Was that the timid one?