“Ah, n-no. I’m fine… ugh, really, if I just take some medicine, I’ll feel better… ugh.”
Iris shook her head violently and kept pressing the close button.
Her headache was going away thanks to recalling the rest of the memory.
It wasn’t the kind of headache that disappeared just by receiving treatment anyway.
“Your condition doesn’t look good….”
“Hehe, I’m… fine.”
Just as she could feel the man’s rough thoughts and uneasy gaze, the elevator arrived at the first floor.
Iris gave him an awkward smile and hurried toward the restroom.
Once there, she sat on the toilet and recalled the memories stirred up by the “pot skill.”
‘Kaiser knew his son Laika was a villain. But rather than scolding him after finding out, he let him continue doing bad things—he even encouraged him.’
‘The more chaotic the city of Gyodam becomes, the more anxious the ordinary people without powers will be, and weapons will sell like hotcakes. There was even an explanation that he was ambitious about researching powered individuals to turn them into human weapons.’
‘He built a lab. And… this part wasn’t in the original comic. I can’t recall anything else.’
According to the comic, Kaiser was an evil man who didn’t just accept but encouraged his son’s villainy for the benefit of his own weapons company.
Children are heavily influenced by their parents.
If Kaiser had guided Laika down the right path, Gyodam City might not have fallen into chaos later on…
‘But then the comic wouldn’t have progressed. Anyway, 22 years ago, the comic never finished. It kept branching out into side episodes… So if we go by the original storyline, Gyodam City never regains peace and suffers forever.’
Was Kaiser also a powered individual?
Iris couldn’t recall any episode confirming whether he had awakened powers.
He was only briefly introduced as Laika’s father and what kind of person he was.
Her “pot” was quiet, meaning the memory wasn’t distorted.
The problem was that the comic never ended before she died.
It was possible there was an unreleased episode revealing Kaiser was a villain all along.
But she couldn’t know.
No matter how hard she got hit by the pot’s invisible fist, she couldn’t recall content she’d never read.
‘Phew, yeah. Just copying skills won’t change anything. I have to stop Laika from doing villainous things… but how? Even if I copy his skills, there’s no way I can beat him.’
If only she could completely incapacitate him—that would be best.
But killing was out of the question.
Not only could she not do it, she didn’t want to.
She just had to make it so that he couldn’t or wouldn’t want to act like a villain.
As Iris closed her eyes to think, she suddenly felt a chill at her own thoughts.
No matter how villainous he was—and not just any villain, but one of the key threats who devastated Gyodam City—he was still the guy she’d just been making out with, touching and doing all kinds of things with.
How could she think like this now?
‘Phew… it can’t be helped. Keep a cool head, but keep the lower half hot. Just because I rubbed bodies with him doesn’t mean I’m falling for the villain.’
Laika had been perfect for a first experience.
He was handsome, had a great body, and even though she didn’t see it, judging by the huge outline pressing against her legs, his junk was probably enormous.
But that was all.
Maybe she was just born a hero—thinking of him as an evil villain, only her lower half reacted, but not her heart.
Her heart didn’t flutter with love or affection—it was pure lust.
‘That jerk hasn’t even sent me a message after all that. Guess he’s still talking with his dad… Oh crap, I should’ve used the detection skill!’
She had been so satisfied with the time spent with Laika that she’d completely forgotten her actual objective.
Panicking, Iris checked her message history.
Fortunately, even though she hadn’t used the detection skill, the deep contact must’ve triggered something.
You have had deep contact with Laika.
You can now always view part of the target’s status window.
‘Oh! That secret time in the hospital room was worth it. I can always see his status window now? Show me Laika’s status window.’
As soon as she thought it, the status window appeared in her mind.
[Detection Result]
Laika LV. ??
[Skills Owned]
Super-Speed Running LV.28
Amazing Leap LV.22
Lion’s Roar LV.38
Beast Transformation LV.35
Jaw Strength Enhancement LV.42
??
??
??
[Mental-type Skills]
Killer Smile LV.19
Total Misperception LV.14
??
??
[Status]
Excited / Comfortable / ??
Some parts of Laika’s status window were still hidden.
It seemed his level was quite high.
‘From the skills, he seems to have lion-related powers. Did he get bitten by a lion at a zoo or something? Well, in the comic, the methods for awakening powers varied wildly, so that’s not important…’
Since Laika wasn’t in front of her, she could only view his status for now. Iris checked the next message.
If you have deeper contact with Laika, you may acquire one of the target’s skills.
Iris grimaced.
‘Ugh, of course. This chastity belt thing really is a pervert. To gain a skill, I need deeper contact? I already did almost everything… It’s basically telling me to have sex.’
And if it said she could gain one skill, that sounded like she’d have to sleep with him multiple times to get multiple skills.
Well, that wasn’t a bad thing.
Sex with Laika had been enjoyable, and it looked like there’d be another opportunity soon.
The problem was where.
She didn’t want to invite him to her place.
He was a villain—if she exposed her private life, she might be harmed later.
Then what about going to his place?
‘That’d be like walking into a tiger’s den… But on the other hand, there might be important information in his house. I do want to check it out. But he might not invite me anyway, so no need to worry yet.’
Her legs were starting to go numb from sitting too long.
Iris patted her thighs and exited the stall to wash her hands.
As she looked into the mirror above the sink, her eyes widened.
Just like when she first awakened her powers, her reflection in the mirror appeared as a hero.
Her neck, head, and index finger were glowing—like something was wrapped around them…
‘Why is the mirror doing this again? Wait, last time… wasn’t my wrist glowing too? Don’t tell me… there’s some kind of ancient accessory set? Like in magical girl stories, where if you collect all the enchanted items, you awaken an incredible power?’
Maybe the mirror was showing her the form she would take when wearing them all, hinting at the answer.
She couldn’t confirm it—no message appeared—but she had a strong hunch.
She already had two items labeled “Ancient.” It wasn’t far-fetched to assume there were three more.
‘Guess I’ll have to loiter around the pawnshop more.’
Though she had a strong feeling that gathering the Ancient Accessory Set would be the key to solving everything, there wasn’t much she could do right now.
‘Time to go home. But before that…’
There was a reason she hadn’t left the hospital immediately but instead took her time in the restroom.
She was planning to look for that scumbag journalist who wrote a trash article about her.
She turned on her phone and checked the writer’s affiliation.
Reporters usually wore their company’s mark, so it wouldn’t be hard to find him.
Since it was just last night, the hospital front was crowded with reporters looking for a scoop—he was probably among them.
‘Even if I don’t find the guy who wrote the article, if I give an interview to another TV reporter, a good piece will come out.’
As much as she wanted to give the guy a good smack on the head, that wasn’t something she could do.
An interview would suffice to let the world know that that ungrateful staff member had come to visit Laika in the hospital.
Drying her hands with a paper towel, she was about to leave when she suddenly paused and leaned in close to the mirror above the sink.
‘Wait, this is a mirror too, isn’t it? And this restroom is in a secluded corner… maybe I should try entering the exchange here.’
As soon as she thought it, the mirror rippled, and a message appeared.
Would you like to enter the Secret Exchange?
‘Yes.’
The moment she responded in her mind, a brilliant white light hit her eyes.
She winced at the sting and shut her eyes, but when she opened them again, she was in a completely different space.