Chapter 24 : A Touch Too Far

Teresa was already a retired hero. 

Why would she retire? 

In many ways, she just wanted to spend the rest of her life in peace. 

She had earned enough money, and her second job as an exorcist was something she did for fun when she got bored. 

She was naturally gifted too. 

She started moving again because she was concerned about Iris, a junior hero she had met later in life, but it didn’t seem like there was anything to worry about now. 

After crossing a bridge over a large lake, they were immediately confronted by monsters with vicious eyes. 

This time, the monsters resembled bipedal deer, but with foam frothing from their mouths, they were clearly out of their minds. 

Unlike normal deer, their four limbs were completely muscular. 

On closer inspection, they were brown deer, but at a glance, their aggressive appearance was more reminiscent of kangaroos from Australia. 

‘These guys seem tougher than the tree monsters.’ 

Iris decided to use a method she had learned before. 

After scanning her surroundings quickly, she picked up a small stone—not with her hand, but with the claw that protruded from between her legs… 

Then, shouting “Hup-cha!” she swung the claw like a fist. 

The bipedal deer monster got punched and was sent flying. 

No matter how many times she saw it, the grotesqueness didn’t become any easier to stomach. 

Teresa, watching in a daze, cleared her throat when Iris looked back, then went on to attack another monster. 

“Skreee!” 

“Grrrk!” 

The monsters’ screams filled the air as the two heroes launched a joint attack. 

No matter how much the deer monsters flexed their bodybuilder-like physiques, they couldn’t respond to ranged attacks, and the tide quickly turned in the heroes’ favor. 

As they finished off the monsters, multiple message alerts rang in Iris’s ears. 

She decided to check them later and moved her fingers. 

‘Gotta level up my Scan skill.’ 

The muscular deer monsters were intimidating in size, but if she wanted to level up her Scan skill, she had to be brave. 

Only then could she see Laika’s status window, and more importantly, she could use the skill attached to the bracelet with her “other limb” as well. 

“Take this!” 

“Grrrr!” 

First, she broke the monster’s spirit with some lashes. 

Then, as the deer monster staggered in dizziness, she seized the opportunity and placed her hand on its muscled back. 

The moment she touched its muscle-packed back, her breath grew ragged… 

‘Damn it… This skill seriously makes me feel like a pervert. It’s so uncomfortable.’ 

“Those who wear the crown must bear its weight.” 

Gritting her teeth, she kept her hand on the deer’s back, and soon the scan results popped up. 

[Scan Result] 

Combat Deer LV.7 

[Skills] 

Kick LV.6 

Quadrupedal Movement LV.12 

Body Slam LV.5 

Horn Thrust LV.6 

Bite LV.7 

Muscle Flex LV.8 

[Status] 

Hungry / Uncomfortable / Irritated 

‘Oh, not bad… Oh no.’ 

This deer wasn’t as easy as the tree monster. 

The deer turned its fierce eyes toward her, apparently displeased by her touch. 

Then it lifted a leg and kicked at Iris. 

“Ugh!” 

“Watch out!” 

Iris was flung backward by the kick. 

She had never been hit by a monster during her previous battles, so she had let her guard down. 

Teresa immediately assumed a raptor-like stance and launched an eagle-themed attack skill. 

The deer, caught in the attack, rolled its eyes and collapsed backward. 

Teresa helped Iris up and scolded her. 

“Iris. Why did you touch it? You’re not supposed to fight with your hands. You fight from range—with your other limb. The only reason you were able to defeat those things easily was because you used ranged attacks.”

“Close combat is a no-go for physically weak heroes like you or me. Unless you have a melee skill… were you trying to use a skill?” 

“Um…” 

As Iris hesitated, Teresa shook her head, signaling it was okay. 

She remembered she had told Iris to keep her abilities a secret. 

“No need to explain. Just be glad it ended here. If it had been a stronger monster, you could’ve died from such a reckless move.” 

“Phew… Thank you for saving me, Teresa-senpai.” 

“Keep this in mind. When fighting alone, never act recklessly. Especially not touching a monster without planning to use a skill. Some monsters can extend tentacles from their bodies. If you try something like that on one of those, it’s instant death.” 

“Just imagining it is horrifying. I’ll be careful. That was a mistake.” 

Monsters with tentacles coming out of their bodies. 

Just imagining those tentacles piercing through her body gave her chills. 

After Teresa’s warning, Iris finally realized just how reckless she had been. 

‘I got greedy trying to level up my Scan skill… My stomach still hurts from that.’ 

It was indeed dangerous to touch a monster’s body carelessly. 

Maybe transferring the scan skill to the bracelet had been a mistake. 

Scanning with her hand clearly had pros and cons. 

It was much easier to scan people, but much harder to scan aggressive monsters… 

‘Wait? I can scan Teresa-senpai now, right? I just have to touch her with my hand! When I could only use the skill with my other limb, I gave up since it would have been too risky if I got caught and lost her trust. But now I think I can pull it off secretly.’ 

She couldn’t deny she was interested in Teresa’s skills—after all, Teresa was a veteran hero. 

She likely had a lot of powerful skills. 

Whether or not they’d be useful to Iris could only be decided after scanning. 

Iris swallowed hard and casually approached Teresa, brushing off her back as if it were nothing. 

“You’ve got a lot of dust on your back.” 

“Oh, really? Thanks, Iris.” 

“N-No problem.” 

Trying to scan her senior hero, who had helped her so much, made Iris so nervous that she stammered without realizing it. 

Ignoring her conscience, she continued to pat Teresa’s clean back. 

Soon, the scan result appeared before her eyes. 

[Scan Result] 

Eagle Woman LV.?? 

[Skills] 

Feather Shot LV.50 

Lightspeed Flight LV.40 

Eagle’s Revenge LV.25 

?? 

?? 

?? 

[Status] 

Light / ?? / ?? 

‘Whoa. As expected of Teresa-senpai. Her level’s so high I can’t even see everything. But just from this… she’s incredible.’ 

The name “Eagle Woman” appeared in her status window. 

Iris guessed it showed like that because Teresa had introduced herself with her hero name. 

In Laika’s case, who hadn’t shared a villain name, only his real name showed up, and for a random thug, it showed “random thug” simply because Iris had thought of him that way. 

It was impossible to see all of Teresa’s skills. 

As a long-time hero, her level was clearly far higher than Iris’s. 

Only a few skills were visible, but each one looked like something Iris desperately wanted. 

But to learn a skill, didn’t you need that “strong, pervy desire to grope”? 

According to the message she saw when she scanned Laika, she had to grope Teresa… and that just wasn’t happening. 

Teresa would definitely find it suspicious. 

‘Can’t I just have one? Something like Lightspeed Flight. That would be amazing.’ 

That one was clearly a flying skill. 

She had never seen Teresa fly, but just having that would make her so much faster and more agile in battle. 

As she was licking her lips at the thought, a welcome message popped up. 

Scan Skill proficiency has increased. LV.4 → LV.5. Scanning is now faster and more responsive. 

‘Oh! All that back-touching and deer-kicking paid off. My scan skill leveled up.’ 

Then another message appeared: 

Target’s level is too high. Incompatible. Unable to scan by groping. 

‘Huh? What does that mean? Incompatible? And “unable to scan by groping”? Wait, what…?’ 

At first glance, it seemed like “incompatible” meant the skill couldn’t work because the target’s level was too high. 

But with Laika, she had received a message saying deeper physical contact would make it possible, even if the level was high. 

So what did this mean? 

Was it not about level but the method? 

Maybe “groping” wasn’t a suitable method for someone like Teresa—and maybe, with another method, the scan could still work…