Chapter 175: Caught In 4K
Chapter 175
Not too far away there was a large cooking pot sitting over the stove with smoke slowly rising from it. As Alex walked toward it, he asked one of the most reasonable questions anyone could ask.
"How long has this been cooking?"
"I—I forgot about it!" Sofia answered back while rushing into the kitchen behind him. Then as if knowing what he was about to do next, she hurriedly yelled.
"Alex, don’t touch...!"
But Alex had already reached the stove. He first looked at the hot pot before looking at his hands. Then he shrugged.
’It’s not like this can even hurt me.’
If at vanguard realm, a military grade steel blade could not even leave a scratch on him, then this was absolutely nothing now that he was an Ascendant Realm expert. There was no need for any mittens or towel, his bare hand would do just fine.
So Alex simply reached down and grabbed the scalding hot metal pot with his bare hands, making Sofia’s eyes widen in both shock and fear.
"Alex!"
He lifted it up, causing the heavy pot to come off the stove effortlessly, and glanced at it calmly. As expected he barely felt the heat. To mundane humans, the metal would have been dangerously hot and would have definitely left some burns.
But to an B Rank with his absurd physical durability, it was nothing more than a barely noticeable sting. Alex calmly carried the pot toward the sink in front of Sofia’s pale face. The poor woman must have thought that this was hurting him.
"Alex! Put it down!!" Sofia’s panicked voice suddenly came through.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine."
"Your hands!"
Alex continued walking. He was just about to lower the pot when Sofia rushed toward him. Her beautiful eyes widened in pure horror when she saw him clearly holding the scorching pot with his bare hands.
"What are you doing?!" She immediately grabbed his hand. Forgetting all about the pot, with her attention completely focused on him.
Then she pulled his hand closer and carefully examined his palm. Though there was no burn mark or swelling whatsoever, she didn’t even notice it because her mind was already filled with worry.
"Does it hurt badly?"
She quickly raised his hand. Then, without thinking, she began blowing gently against his palm. Alex felt his body freeze the moment she did that. His forest green eyes widened as he felt her soft breath brush against his skin, and her small delicate hands gently holding his.
The sight of her worried expression as she fussed over him made something inside his chest feel warm. Then a sly gleam suddenly flashed within his eyes as an idea entered his mind.
There was no reason to tell her that it didn’t hurt him, instead he could use this opportunity to the fullest. So Alex immediately activated his best acting skills and looked down at his palm with a pained expression.
"Ah.. my hand." He gritted his teeth. "It hurts so much. I should have listened to you."
Sofia immediately stopped blowing. Her beautiful eyes filled with concern.
"Does it really hurt that much?"
Alex made his expression become even more miserable to make it seem much more believable, and nodded his head.
"Yeah."
Sofia’s face instantly went pale.
"Oh my God!" She immediately brought his hand closer. "Let me see! I told you not to touch it, but you wouldn’t listen!"
Alex looked at the little woman who looked genuinely worried as her delicate fingers continued to hold his hand while she carefully examined his so called hurt palm. The sight made him want to chuckle at how adorable she looked right now.
At the same time, another thought appeared in his mind.
’This mission might actually be easier than I initially thought.’
Sofia was clearly worried about him even though she was the same woman who earlier had been telling him to forget all about that night. She was even holding his hand. Maybe he could use this opportunity to get even closer to her.
Alex’s lips almost curved upward, but he quickly caught himself, reminding himself that he couldn’t get too excited. He still needed about forty more Desire Energy and he only had about four hours now. So he had to be careful.
Meanwhile, Sofia continued staring at his supposedly injured hand.
"Thank God it’s not swelling, but does it really hurt much?"
Alex hesitated before giving her a small, painful smile.
"Well... It does but I think I can just manage it." Alex said while slowly tightening his fingers around hers, causing Sofia’s eyes to widen slightly.
Alex’s expression remained completely innocent but the sly light in his forest green eyes betrayed the fact that he was already thinking of his next move.
Sofia had noticed the slight movement of his slender fingers and her eyes immediately dropped to their hands. Alex was holding hers. Her delicate fingers were completely wrapped around his much larger hand.
For some reason, the sight made her heart beat faster than before. And at that moment she tried to pull away because this felt wrong
[Ding!]
[+10 Desire Points Gained From Sofia]
[+7 Desire Energy Gained From Sofia]
"Wait." Alex suddenly said, stopping her.
Sofia looked up and wanted to ask why, but Alex continued with a slightly pained expression.
"It’s my hand. It still hurts."
Once her expression became worried once again, Alex secretly let out a small smirk before reverting back to normal.
Sofia now completely forgot about pulling away, because instead she carefully held his hand with both of hers and asked softly.
"Show me, where does it hurt?"
"Here." Alex replied, pointing toward the center of his palm. Sofia immediately lowered her head to examine it and scratched her hair in confusion before asking.
"But there’s nothing there."
"I know."
She looked up at him after he said that, making Alex realize his mistake.
"I mean..." He quickly tried to correct himself. "I mean, there’s nothing visible, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt."
Sofia narrowed her eyes.
"Alex"
"Hmm?"
"Are you sure you’re actually hurt? Or are you just messing with me?"
Alex’s expression froze. ’,Oh, shit."
The little gremlin’s voice suddenly rang inside his head.
[Hahaha! You’ve been caught in 4K]
’Shut it.’
[You know? You should have thought of a better lie]
’No kidding. Now what do I do to fix this?’
[I don’t know, maybe try crying? It should help]
’I am not going to cry.’
[Then what about screaming?]
’One more word from you and I swear I am going to throw you out of the nearest window.’
[You can only wish. But sadly for you and happily for me, you can’t. We are on the same side. So deal with it]
Alex mentally rolled his eyes, not knowing what to do with his system. Meanwhile, Sofia was still staring suspiciously at him.
"Alex?"
"Uh yes?"
"I need you to show me your hand properly. I want to check something real quick."
"But aren’t I already showing you?"
"No you’re not." Then Sofia suddenly grabbed his wrist, making Alex blink, but he knew he couldn’t do anything for fear of accidentally injuring her thanks to his now monstrous strength.
All he could do was watch as she turned his hand around and carefully examined his palm. Then she looked at the back of his hand. His fingers and wrist. Nothing was spared out of her meticulous search.
Sofia’s expression slowly became even more confused. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his hand. There wasn’t even a tiny mark. And unbelievably as it sounded, there was not even the slightest of indications that his hand had just touched a scorching hot pot.
Looking up at him, she met his clear eyes as a very awkward silence settled between them.
"Alex. Your hand is completely fine. Do you mind explaining that?"
Alex’s expression immediately became serious as he tried to lie shamelessly through his teeth.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I am."
"But it still hurts pretty badly."
"No, it doesn’t. So stop lying through your teeth."
"And how would you know?"
"Because I’m looking at it, young man!"
Alex looked down at his palm, then back to her. He slowly turned his hand from one side to another. "Hmm.."
When he saw that her eyes had narrowed and she had crossed her arm, Alex fully realized that his little act wasn’t going to work anymore, so he quickly cleared his throat and muttered.
"Maybe it healed."
Sofia’s mouth dropped open. "Healed? In the last thirty seconds?"
"Very impressive, right?"
Sofia stared at him. Before doing something he had never seen her do. She suddenly puffed her cheek and said angrily.
"You are unbelievable. Making me fuss over you when you were never even hurt in the first place."
Alex didn’t say anything, he just casually pulled his hand away with a small smile on his face. Sofia’s expression quickly became slightly awkward. She hadn’t even realized that she was still holding his hand until that moment.
Her fingers slowly fell to her sides. Alex noticed. Of course he noticed, but he had decided it was best not to tease her about it. Just then those beautiful notifications that were beginning to sound like the world’s best music to his ears, suddenly chimed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[+4 Desire Energy Gained From Sofia]
[+5 Desire Points Gained From Sofia]
’Good! Good! I only need a few more Desire Energy to complete this.’
The chibi immediately appeared beside him and scoffed.
[Only a few?]
’Uh, last time I checked... Yeah.’