Chapter 10: Hot Night (2)

Chapter 10: Hot Night (2)

Gregor,
a Lizardgirl female warrior who has crossed the age threshold this
year, is a confident and determined warrior.

Before
she came to the Labyrinth City, there was no one in her clan who
could match her and that didn’t change much in the Labyrinth City.

She
reached the third level within two months of entering the Labyrinth.

It
was by no means an unprecedented record, but it was a good record
that ranked among the best.

Thanks
to that, she already received offers from several clans. They
recognized a great talent right away.

Her
life was rosy, and she had a long road ahead of her but one day,
Gregor met her match in a tavern.

His
pectoralis major and biceps, thick triceps with artistic cleavage,
dense obliques, and six-pack that seemed to be hidden by a fur
blanket.

A
man who had a desire to mate with his whole body was sitting alone in
the corner of the inn bar.

If
he was so mating-friendly, even to her own reptilian self, what would
he look like to other humans, elves, watermen, and others?

She
had no idea.

The
sharp-eyed Lizardgirl noticed that the eyes of the females in the inn
were gradually turning toward him.

Strong
females prey on strong males. And strong males taste better when
they’re eaten after a fierce battle.

Gregor
remembered the proverb passed down from generation to generation
among the Lizards and began to over-appeal.

Thus
began the arm wrestling match.

Gregor
was full of confidence.

Touted
as the greatest warrior of her people, she had proven herself in the
infamous Labyrinth City.

What
she’s accomplished so far has bolstered her confidence.

The
man in front of her has the body of a warrior, strong and hard, but
he is a male.

He
can’t even beat his own females, so how can he beat her?

She
had overwhelming confidence.

“⋯?”

However,
that confidence began to crumble as soon as the man in the helmet
took her hand.

It
was a different large, callused hand.

‘What
the hell?’

Our
palms met, our fingers intertwined, and we assumed an arm-wrestling
pose.

It
wasn’t my initiative, as the female, but the male’s, as if forced
into the position by his strength.

“What,
you’re a wimp? You can go back if you’re not confident.”

The
helmeted man smirked as he echoed her words.

“⋯No,
I’m just checking your strength.”

I
squeezed his hand, returning the taunt.

-Gulp.

I
swallowed hard.

The
explorer, who had reached the third level of the labyrinth, broke out
in a cold sweat, nervous from the arm wrestling.

“Are
you both ready?”

The
referee, who had appeared out of nowhere, checked their intentions.

When
they nodded in unison, the referee released the grip on their fists.

-Kaaaaaah!

The
match was over in an instant.

The
pride of the third-level warrior had been crushed.

Nam
Soo-jin, who had bet his entire fortune on the gambling board,
cheered.

***

“Fuck,
this is invalid!”

A
voice of protest erupted from the crowd of drinkers who had gathered
like spectators.

“You
guys cheated, right?! No, the result doesn’t make sense!”

“Dude,
Gregor, you’re out of your mind. If that’s acting, you should quit
being an explorer and join a theater company.”

“He’s
got some pretty impressive skills.”

“I
haven’t seen him in Valerus before. Is he a rookie explorer? I
haven’t heard of any rookies lately⋯”

“But
why is he wearing a helmet?”

“I
don’t know, he either got a face chewed up or got pulverized.”

There
were other noises.

Who
doesn’t want to get in trouble for losing money at the gambling
tables?

The
important thing is that I bet against the odds, and the four silver
coins came back as nine silver coins.

I
was smiling and counting my winnings when a drunken-looking man burst
out in front of me, pushing people roughly.

“Money.
My fucking money! Give me my money! You think I’m going to admit to
this shitty scam?”

I
recognized the voice as the same guy from earlier.

Indeed.
The power of alcohol is amazing. It gives him the courage to stand up
for himself when everyone else is quiet.

“That
asshole. He did it.”

She
smiled and offered a kind word to the drunken man who staggered away,
unable to hear the quiet whispers of those around him.

“What
if you don’t admit it? If you had won the money, would you be here in
front of me, bitching about it? You’d be ordering more drinks because
you won some money. Look at other people, they just accept the result
and get over it. If you’re drunk, go home and sleep.”

The
man’s helmet hid his kind smile, or perhaps he was touched by the
warmth of the advice.

The
man’s face turned red and flushed. His head was dizzy with alcohol,
but his ears seemed to be open.

“You
son of a bitch-!”

“Stop.”

-Aaaaah.

The
man raised his fist, and the words that came out of his mouth in the
heat of the moment dropped the temperature in the inn.

And
I don’t just mean verbally, the temperature really dropped.

My
skin shivered and my breath came out. The sudden chill feels like
it’s about to freeze my skin.

“No
fights in my inn.”

Only
one person moves in the silence that fills the inn.

Diana
slowly opened her tightly closed eyes and placed her hand on the
drunken man’s shoulder.

“You
understand?”

“Yes,
yes⋯”

The
drunken man nodded vigorously, his face pale, unable to speak.

“Hoo-hoo,
good boy, I’m glad you seem to understand.”

The
temperature of the inn, which had cooled drastically, gradually began
to return to normal. Diana’s eyes closed once more.

The
drunken man ran out of the inn in a huff, and the people who had been
giggling at the sight resumed laughing and talking and drinking
merrily, as if the mood had been broken.

“Hahaha,
look at him running away like that!”

“There’s
a lot to see today. Gregor getting crushed in arm wrestling and even
Diana’s power! Amazing!”

Some
of the stronger ones said such things.

Sure
enough, when I first met her, Diana didn’t even flinch when I pointed
an axe at her.

I
thought she was out of the ordinary even then, but the way people
reacted to her made me realize it was more than that.

“Are
you okay? A lot must have happened since I went to fetch water.”

“It
wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Well,
I’m glad to hear that, but ⋯
ah. Here’s your water.”

Diana
poured water into a cup. I lifted my helmet up ever so slightly so I
could drink the water, and as I sipped it carefully, I thought to
myself.

‘Let’s
see.’

Just
before I arm-wrestled Gregor, I stared straight at her, and a status
window popped up with her information.

The
status window doesn’t just work for me, it works for others.

Diana
was right in front of me, and I silently looked at her and called up
the status window.

I
wondered how powerful she is that she can freeze the world around her
with a single word.

I
expected to hear a ding, like when I stared at Gregor, and see a
status window pop up with her information.

Instead,
a slightly different phrase popped up.

“Kaaak?!”

I
looked at the status window, panicked, and spewed water out of my
mouth.

“⋯⋯”

Diana
stared at her damp gray dress in dismay.

As
the front of her already tight-fitting dress got completely soaked,
the embroidery of her bra struggling to hold her large breasts and
her soft navel became visible.

My
head instantly went white, and I made a common-sense decision that I
didn’t want to make.

In
a panic, I grabbed a nearby towel, wrapped it around my hand, and
pressed it firmly against her chest.

My
first thought was, “I need to clean up that water first,”
but it wasn’t until I put my hand on her chest that I realized,
“Isn’t this a little dangerous?”

But
the damage was done.

The
clammy towel, and the thick, firm fingers beyond it, pressed down on
my damp, sensitive breasts.

“Nghhhhhh!!!”

Diana,
who had been stunned and stiffened by the water fountain for a long
time, finally came to her senses, her whole body shuddering from the
sudden stimulation.

Her
tightly closed eyelids fluttered open.

The
vibration was so strong that the hand pressed against her chest shook
violently.

The
unfamiliar trembling made my hands grow stronger, and I squeezed
harder at Diana’s breasts.

She
could feel something hard between her large breasts. His thumb
slipped out, and he twisted and squeezed it.

“Hmph?!”

This
time it wasn’t a weak, long shudder like before. This time, it was a
full-blown shudder, like an explosion.

At
the same time, her half-closed pupils dilated fully, and her
beautiful amber eyes fluttered open.

Immediately
afterward, Diana’s back and legs buckled as if she had lost all
strength, and she fell backwards onto the table chair.

“Huh,
huh, huh.”

“Diana,
are you okay?”

I
gingerly reach out my arm to support Diana, who is breathing heavily,
her face and neck flushed red.

-Thud!

She
promptly brushed my hand away, wrapping her arms around the peaks of
her ample breasts and throwing her head back.

“Huh,
huh⋯sorry⋯Go,
I’m suddenly feeling a little unwell. I guess we’re done for the
day⋯uh,
go upstairs and get some rest⋯!”

Diana
said those words in a hurry and ran towards the kitchen on the first
floor.

I
stared at her in disbelief, then sank down on a chair at the table.

[The
gap between you and the target is overwhelming.]

[The
status window will be brought up, albeit in a limited way.]

“Fucked⋯”

[D■■
■■■■
lv.7■]

[■■■■■■■■
Curses: 6]

Considering
the filtering, it’s around level 70. The first digit of the level is
a whopping 7.

Against
an opponent so much stronger than me, I made a huge mistake.

Still,
I honestly have no regrets.

***

The
people in the inn had long since disappeared like the tide after
witnessing Diana being hit by Nam Soo-Jin’s water.

However,
there were two figures in the inn that hadn’t left.

One
was Nam Soo-Jin, and the other was Gregor.

Gregor
was mentally shattered by the humiliation of having lost to a male
while trying to impress him.

As
she watched the incident from her seat, she said to herself.

“Just
let them mate⋯”