Ch.62Clothing Models Are Dangerous (2)

I startled awake from Helena’s embrace, confused by the situation.

Looking around with a bewildered expression, I saw Aila watching me with an amused look, as if she found me cute.

What on earth happened?

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes, I’m fine…”

I clearly remember checking the effect of the ring.

I conducted tests for about 15 minutes, and while the effect was active, my side effects showed significant improvement.

However, after that, my memory of when I deactivated it was hazy.

I looked at Helena with an accusatory gaze, but she avoided my eyes, trying to suppress a smile as she spoke.

“…You were, um, intoxicated.”

“What?”

“You were completely drunk.”

I could only stare blankly at those words.

It had been a very long time since I’d heard that term.

“I… I was acting like a drunk?”

Since becoming like this, I hadn’t touched alcohol, but back in Thebes, I had never lost a drinking contest to anyone. Naturally, this was shocking.

Besides, I hadn’t even consumed any actual alcohol now, had I?

While I was flustered, Aila, who had composed her expression at some point, spoke up.

“That’s unusual. Normally, such severe side effects don’t occur from such short-term use…”

She quickly added:

“To elaborate further, the side effects correspond to the duration of the artifact’s activation and the power of the results obtained. It seems that in your case, Eunha, you experience a state of intoxication proportional to the time you used it.”

It was truly a disconcerting side effect. Feeling heat rise to my face, I turned to Helena and asked:

“…W-what did you see?”

“I think it’s better if you don’t know.”

Looking at Helena’s expression, I realized I must have made quite a spectacle of myself and slowly began gathering magical energy.

Whoosh.

“I-I’m going to erase your memory.”

“That would be difficult with your current level.”

Indeed, I couldn’t tamper with Helena’s memories in my current state. I trembled slightly and let my magical energy subside.

Clap!

Aila suddenly clapped her hands and addressed us.

“Well, now that we’ve confirmed the effect, shall we get going?”

Only then did I remember what I had forgotten—that the real challenge hadn’t even begun yet.

#

Click.

Click-click-click!

“Great! That’s very good, but could you make your expression a bit brighter?”

“How?”

“Try imagining something that made you happy.”

At those words, I recalled the moment I first reached Challenger rank and smiled with genuine happiness.

Satisfied, Aila brought over another set of clothes.

“Let’s try a more mature look this time. I’ll also adjust your makeup.”

I trudged reluctantly to where the staff was waiting, grimacing all the way.

It’s been two hours already, with no end in sight. Grumbling, I suddenly remembered something and asked Aila:

“Does this mean I’ll have to spend the entire day drunk after we finish?”

Aila avoided my gaze with an awkward smile. I could only sigh deeply.

“…Finish within three hours. I won’t do any more than that, even if I die.”

“Yes, that should be enough.”

After completing the photoshoot, I left the studio completely drained.

Of course, the ring’s effect was still active—I had no choice, as I would fall into a drunken state the moment I stopped using it.

“Thank you for your hard work. I’m glad I asked for your help. The photos will turn out great.”

“……”

Although it was an extremely cumbersome process, I had obtained what I wanted. It could be considered a mutually beneficial exchange.

‘The side effect is annoying, but the effect itself is much better than what I had before.’

Especially the fact that I could control the duration freely. Of course, the longer I used it, the longer the recoil would last, but it would be a tremendous advantage in battle.

With farewell greetings from Aila and Brooks, who had come out to see us off, we returned to the Calliope Guild.

#

“How unusual. You were so tense.”

After seeing off Helena and Baek Eunha, Aila returned to the top floor of the building and spoke to Brooks.

“Was Helena’s power that threatening?”

“Needless to say. Her power has clearly become even stronger than before.”

However, just now, it wasn’t Helena that Brooks had been carefully observing. Rather, it was the opposite.

“You should be careful of the other one in particular when you meet them next time, not just Helena.”

“You mean Baek Eunha?”

“She is… not ordinary.”

Aila merely blinked at those words. After all, any high-rank hunter was bound to be different from ordinary people.

But Brooks firmly shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then?”

“I mean it’s not simply a matter of strength.”

This was quite an exceptional assessment. Since Brooks had never expressed himself this way about anyone before, Aila opened her eyes wide, waiting for what would come next.

“As you know, I have these eyes.”

The Eye of Truth, obtained from a dragon’s legacy in a world different from Earth, a being from legend.

Brooks’ left eye momentarily elongated like that of a reptile before returning to normal.

“Did you see something with that eye?”

“I saw her soul, or part of it.”

In the tension that had begun to build, Brooks continued speaking as if he still couldn’t forget what he had seen.

“It wasn’t singular.”

“What do you mean, not singular?”

“It kept changing form even as I watched, possessing countless appearances.”

And.

“Among them was the complete form of a dragon.”

“A dragon?”

Aila couldn’t easily guess what that meant.

Brooks delivered his answer with a slightly trembling voice.

“It must be one of two things.”

“……”

“Either she herself is a dragon, or…”

Or she is an unprecedented being who has even devoured a dragon’s soul.

Aila gulped at those words.

If all this was true, and such a Baek Eunha was cooperating with Helena…

“The power dynamics among the top guilds in England will soon be greatly shaken.”

#

At the same time, somewhere in Pennsylvania, USA, in a secret government facility.

A massive magical storm suddenly erupted in its deepest part.

Boom.

“What’s happening?”

“It seems to be coming from the Prophet’s room!”

Here resided an awakened one known as the Prophet.

This was classified information that nobody knew except certain high-ranking officials in the US government.

There was nothing to gain by revealing to other countries that America had the power to glimpse fragments of the future.

Thud!

“Are you alright?”

“……”

Inside the wide-open door was a woman with silver-blue hair. She slowly opened her eyes and spoke softly.

“…I witnessed several scenes.”

“W-what kind?”

The man hastily took out a notebook and pen from his pocket, listening intently to the woman’s words.

Whatever came from her lips would undoubtedly be of the highest importance.

“A being that should not exist is about to appear.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. However, it was an extremely ominous and unsettling presence.”

Scribble.

Scribble.

While the man desperately wrote down the content, the woman paused to recollect her memories before speaking again.

“An S-rank dungeon will appear. I could tell the time for this one. Approximately six months from now. I don’t know the location.”

“Good heavens, S-rank…”

“Next is a separate matter. Oliver, an A-rank hunter from the United States, and Austin, an S-rank hunter, will be killed. I don’t know when. However, I saw the eyes of their opponent.”

“T-the eyes, you say?”

After a moment of silence, the woman continued, her hands trembling slightly.

“…They were the eyes of the dead, filled with anger and resentment.”

The trembling was so vivid that the man swallowed hard and wrote down the content with shaking hands.

Watching him, the woman added:

“Even after killing those two, the anger did not subside.”

“……”

“It’s highly likely that it won’t end with just those two.”

“T-that means…”

“Yes. Exactly what you’re thinking.”

If whoever it was couldn’t be stopped.

“The United States may suffer irreversible losses.”

#

Meanwhile, on the 10th floor of the Calliope Guild, which Helena was using as a shelter.

“…So, what exactly happened here?”

“The artifact has side effects. I think she’ll remain in this state until tonight.”

“D-don’t leave me. I’ll do better…”

“Ugh. I understand, so please calm down!”

Song Hayeon, who had returned to the guild with them, let out a bewildered groan as she watched Baek Eunha cling to her with tears in her eyes.