Chapter 155: Alone with gym girl!
The narrow side tunnel stretched endlessly ahead.
Dark.
Quiet.
Only the rhythmic sound of two pairs of footsteps echoed through the damp passage.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Sera walked several paces ahead, her arms tightly folded over her chest.
Her athletic posture was stiff, her gaze glued straight ahead, resolutely refusing to look at Kaizen.
Kaizen casually strolled behind her with both hands shoved in his pockets.
His eyes darting frantically at the glowing blue text floating in his vision.
[Time Remaining: 36 Minutes, 12 Seconds.]
’Thirty-six minutes...’
Kaizen’s soul shivered.
’If I don’t start ridding this girl of her defenses right now, my lower half is going to undergo a localized nuclear demolition.’
"...You know..."
Kaizen started smoothly.
No response.
"You walk pretty fast."
Still nothing. Just the sharp thump-thump of her gym sneakers.
"...Trying to leave me behind?"
Silence.
Kaizen let out a loud, theatrical sigh that practically rattled the stalactites.
"I literally saved your life back there, and this is the cold, unfeeling treatment I get from my damsel?"
Sera abruptly stopped.
She whipped around on her heel, her eyes wide with unadulterated disbelief.
"...Saved?!"
She pointed a frantic finger at her own chest.
"Me?!"
Then she jabbed her finger violently toward his face.
"You tackled me like a rogue linebacker!"
"You literally used my face to brake on the stone floor!"
"My ribs are still actively negotiating with my lungs for breathing rights!"
Kaizen blinked with pure, unbothered innocence.
"...Minor structural details."
"DETAILS?!"
Sera almost exploded, her voice echoing down the corridor.
"You have serious, undiagnosed mental issues!"
Kaizen nodded thoughtfully.
"I do."
"..."
"But that’s entirely unrelated to my heroics."
"..."
"..."
Sera clicked her tongue hard, spinning around again.
"...Idiot."
They continued walking deeper into the gloom.
Another few moments of heavy, awkward silence passed.
The blue timer in Kaizen’s retinas kept ticking down like a bomb.
Kaizen cleared his throat.
"So..."
"What?"
She snapped, not looking back.
"...Why do you hate Hina so much?"
Sera’s athletic shoulders stiffened instantly under her tight top.
"I don’t hate her."
"Oh."
Kaizen nodded.
"My mistake. I guess glaring at the back of her head every twelve seconds is just your natural, baseline facial expression."
"I do NOT glare at her!"
"You literally counted how many times her eyelashes blinked earlier."
"I was NOT counting!"
"You reached twenty-three before she turned around."
"..."
"..."
Sera’s face slowly exploded into a bright, burning shade of crimson.
"...You were counting?!"
"Obviously. I got bored."
Kaizen shrugged.
"Plus, watching your nostrils flare in anger was pretty high-tier entertainment."
"..."
She stomped her foot against a loose stone.
"I don’t hate her."
Kaizen nodded.
"Mhmm."
"I don’t!"
"Mhmm."
"I’m completely serious!"
"Mhmm."
"..."
"...Can you stop making that stupid ’mhmm’ sound?!"
"Mhmm."
"..."
Sera seriously considered turning around and delivering a spinning back-kick directly to his jaw.
Instead... she let out a long, defeated sigh, her competitive posture deflating just a fraction.
"...Fine."
She scratched her flushed cheek awkwardly.
"...I don’t really know. It just... came naturally."
Kaizen looked genuinely surprised, leaning his head to the side.
"You’re a natural-born hater? Is that an high ranker passive skill?"
"...Shut up."
She kicked a loose pebble.
It skittered down the dark corridor, echoing into the abyss.
"...Maybe..." She hesitated, her voice dropping into a rare, quiet murmur. "...I’m just jealous."
Kaizen raised an eyebrow.
"Of Hina?"
Sera nodded slowly, staring at the floor.
"She’s..."
"...Pretty," Kaizen supplied cheerfully.
"Rich," Sera added.
"Also very true," Kaizen agreed.
"Smart."
"Extremely true. Her Ghost Eyes are basically 4K cheat codes."
Sera glared back at him over her shoulder.
"Could you stop agreeing so enthusiastically?!"
"...Sorry."
Sera sighed again, her tone turning bitter.
"She was born into one of the top hunter families in the nation. Top academies. Private tutors. The absolute best mana-infused gear. The best connections."
She let out a harsh, self-deprecating laugh.
"Everything was handed to her on a silver platter before she even took her first breath."
"I... had none of that."
"My parents worked twelve-hour shifts just to pay rent."
"If I wanted gear? I saved for months. If I wanted training? I broke my own muscles in dirt gyms until I figured it out."
She held up her hands, looking at her calloused palms.
"...Sometimes... I wonder how ridiculously strong I’d be if I’d been born into a family like hers instead of starting from zero."
The dark tunnel became dead quiet again.
Kaizen matched her pace, stepping right up beside her this time.
"...Can I say something?"
Sera shrugged, her eyes cast downward.
"I’ll decide if it’s stupid afterward."
"Fair."
Kaizen thought for a second, his eyes flashing in the dark.
"I think you’re jealous of the entirely wrong metric."
Sera frowned, glancing sideways.
"...What?"
"You keep comparing starting lines."
Kaizen pointed ahead into the gloom with a relaxed thumb.
"I compare finish lines."
"Meaning?"
"Hina started on the hundredth floor of a luxury skyscraper."
Kaizen shrugged, his voice surprisingly grounded.
"You started in a damp basement with no elevator."
"If you both end up on the exact same rooftop..."
He turned his head, flashing a crooked, lawless smirk.
"...Who gives a fuck where her elevator started?"
Sera blinked.
She froze mid-step, her dark eyes wide as his words echoed in her head.
"..."
"...That..." She swallowed hard. "...that actually wasn’t completely stupid."
Kaizen gasped dramatically, clutching his chest with both hands.
"..."
"...Did..."
"...Did the legendary knucklehead just compliment my intellect?!"
"I said it wasn’t completely stupid!"
Sera barked, her cheeks flushing hot again.
"That is NOT a compliment!"
"It’s the highest form of praise in your vocabulary, I’m taking it," Kaizen grinned.
Sera rolled her eyes hard, but the heavy tension in her shoulders had completely melted away.
"...Your inner philosophy book probably has three pages."
"Four pages," Kaizen corrected proudly. "Page three is just a drawing of an ass, but it still counts."
"Oh. My deepest apologies. I severely underestimated your literary achievements."
For the first time since they had been separated from the party...
Sera laughed.
A small, genuine laugh that echoed softly off the wet stone walls.
Kaizen glanced sideways, his eyes catching the soft curve of her lips.
"There it is."
"...What?"
"Your actual smile. It’s about a thousand times better than that permanent constipation face you usually wear."
Sera’s smile instantly vanished, her eyes narrowing playfully.
"...Take it back right now."
"Too late. It’s stored in my mental hard drive forever."
"...You are deeply annoying."
"I hear that from every high-tier woman I meet."
"I wonder why," Sera snorted despite herself. "Must be an aura thing."
"I’ve been conducting intensive research on it myself."
"...Idiot."
"That’s the second time you’ve called me that. I’m keeping a official score."
"I’m aiming for a hundred before we find the exit."
"I fully believe in your potential."
Kaizen grinned, stepping just a fraction closer to her.
Sera didn’t pull away this time.
Her arm brushed against his shoulder in the narrow passage, a strange, warm pulse of electricity shooting down her spine.
’Wait... why am I feeling so comfortable with this trash pervert all of a sudden?’
Sera’s brain suddenly slammed the emergency brakes.
She stopped in her tracks, her heart giving a strange, traitorous little flutter.
She looked at Kaizen, then looked down at her own hands, then glared back up at his smug, lawless face.
The competitive, insecure gym-girl gears inside her head instantly spun into overdrive.
She crossed her arms tightly under her chest, puffing out her cheeks.
"...Hey..."
"Hmm?"
Kaizen glanced over, his hands still casually resting in his pockets.
"Earlier... when you were comparing me and Hina..."
Sera began, her brow furrowing with pure, unadulterated ego.
"Do you think she has a better body than me?!"
Kaizen raised an eyebrow, a devious glint dancing in his eyes.
"Whoa. Direct hit."
"Answer the question!"
Sera stomped her foot, stepping right into his personal space.
"Hina has literally never worked out a single day in her life!"
"Everything on her is just soft, lazy fat and high-tier genetics!"
"Whereas I..."
She slapped her own rock-hard, perfectly sculpted quad, then tapped her firm, high-density waist.
"...I am pure muscle, dedication, and athletic perfection!"
Kaizen broke into a soft, evil giggle, his lips curving into a wicked smirk.
"Why are you giggling?!"
Sera barked, her cheeks flushing hot.
"What’s so funny?!"
"I’m just listening to you panic."
Kaizen chuckled, taking a slow, lingering step closer.
"Besides... I still haven’t officially declared who has the better body."
"Is the legendary gym rat already bailing out before the final verdict?"
Sera’s face instantly exploded into a thermonuclear shade of red.
"N-NO!"
She shrieked, her voice cracking.
"I NEVER FAIL! AND I NEVER BAIL OUT!"
"Is that so?"
Kaizen’s smirk widened, looking like a wolf that had just cornered a very angry, very confused bunny.
"That means... I’m free to conduct a few more physical stress tests to gather proper scientific data?"
Sera froze.
Her fried brain finally registered what she had just agreed to.
"I—W-Wait—" she stammered violently, her hands coming up in a frantic, defensive panic. "T-That’s not—"
Kaizen leaned down, his face stopping a single inch from her burning ear.
His tone dropped into a spookily soft, echoing whisper.
"It’s just the two of us down here, gym girl... Nobody else is watching... So..."