There was nothing she could say in protest.
Iris didn’t resist—far from it, she had clutched his arm tightly, overwhelmed by the feeling.
Honestly speaking, the kiss with Laika had been mind-blowingly ecstatic.
That wasn’t all.
Since they had stopped midway, she started getting curious about what else might follow.
The clearly outlined, intensely prominent bulge of his erection over his sweatpants…
Iris was lost in lewd imaginings that wouldn’t stop until another staff member’s voice snapped her back to reality.
“Oh dear, what was I thinking. I forgot today’s sponsored outfit. It’s in the underground parking lot…”
“Oh! Please tell me your car number. I’ll go get it!”
“That would be wonderful. Here’s the key, and the license plate number is…”
She felt Laika’s gaze on her as she quickly accepted the car key.
Leaving him surrounded by the Hemeco staff, she hurried out of the waiting room.
She was afraid her flushed face might be noticed, and honestly, her mind was a mess.
She just wanted to get out of there for now.
As she ran down the corridor, she remembered the message that had flashed before her eyes when she kissed Laika.
Come to think of it, didn’t it say deeper contact was needed the last time she saw his status window?
Something about gaining a skill through touching…
Not that she had kissed him with that intent, but things had naturally led to this.
Iris checked the past message again:
“You have succeeded in making deeper contact.
You can now view Laika’s status window in more detail.”
“Oh? Then show me Laika’s status window right now! Show me! Sho—damn. That’s right, it’s a skill I can only use by touching. Well, I’ll get to touch him again soon anyway…”
Even though the message said she could view it, it seemed she still had to touch him directly.
Iris sighed in disappointment and closed the message.
Still, advancing physical intimacy seemed to be the answer.
She narrowed her eyes and looked down at her skirt.
She could tell without touching that the chastity belt, which had been unlocked in front of Laika earlier, was now shut again.
“I should’ve figured it out when I was stealing his underwear… He’s one of those things that prefers perverted methods to gain skills. No doubt it’s possessed by an evil spirit.”
The fact that the chastity belt had opened in front of Laika was strange in many ways.
In Teresa’s case, she had given permission, so Iris could overcome the level difference and learn skills.
But with Laika, she could never ask for permission.
That would be insane.
He was a villain, and she was a hero who had to take down villains.
Revealing herself as a hero but not her real identity?
That wouldn’t work either.
The moment she revealed herself to be someone with powers, he’d become suspicious or try to exploit her.
There was no way she had the courage to tell someone hiding his own identity, “You’re a gifted person, right?
Can you share your skill with me?”
“Then, I guess the only option is to get closer to him physically. Well… yeah. It wasn’t bad. He’s good at kissing and… down there, too…”
Iris recalled how Laika had adjusted his pants without hiding his erection.
The presence she felt through the fabric had been no joke.
It was probably even bigger when revealed.
Just remembering the outline pressing against his pants made her lower abdomen start to heat up again.
Saliva pooled in her mouth…
But wasn’t having sex with a villain something she needed to think more carefully about?
If something went wrong and her identity got exposed, it could cause serious problems…
“But do I really need to worry that much? As long as I don’t get caught, it’s fine. Honestly, even if it weren’t about the skill, Laika’s the kind of guy I’d want to sleep with at least once. Yeah, who wouldn’t want to sleep with him? Any woman in Gyodam City would throw herself at the chance.”
Iris quickly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.
Her embarrassment was brief; she was already wondering what kind of underwear she should wear in preparation for a night with Laika.
“Am I getting ahead of myself? No, based on the way he acted, he won’t resist if I seduce him. If possible, I want to do it multiple times. I need to fully learn the skill after all… Could I get it all in one go? Either way, I want to do it a lot…”
Delighted by her naughty fantasies of “eating up” Laika, she went down the emergency stairs and arrived at the underground parking lot.
She went to the designated section and picked up the outfits the stylist had asked for from the black van.
Then, she slapped her cheeks loudly and exhaled.
“Why am I still so excited? Whew, I feel like I can still feel his lips. No way… what if Laika says it was a mistake later and starts distancing himself? If he starts feeling uncomfortable… that’d ruin my plan to have my cake and eat it too.”
With the outfits draped over both shoulders, she walked slowly.
There was still time before the shoot, so she wanted to calm herself down.
But then, she heard a man’s voice nearby—one she’d heard before.
Feeling the anger in his voice, Iris instinctively hid behind a pillar.
“That guy… Desnes? Whoa, he’s really handsome in person… but why is he so angry?”
She listened carefully.
At that moment, a message popped up:
“You’re getting better at hiding and concealing your presence. You’ve gained [Hiding Lv. 1].”
“What now? I mean, I am pretty good at sneaking around unnoticed, but…”
She checked her status window and found the skill added under “Skills Owned.”
Deciding to review it later, she continued listening to Desnes’ phone call from behind the pillar.
“Yeah. That bastard! I’m talking about Laika. So arrogant… The staff is starting to like him more and more? Of course! He probably bribed them. That guy’s family is loaded. Disgusting.”
Desnes was loudly bashing Laika in the echoing underground parking lot, not caring who might hear.
“Was he always like this? He seemed so nice on TV. Actors really are pros at managing their image.”
Iris clicked her tongue and looked around.
Aside from her, there didn’t seem to be anyone else hiding.
It was just her and Desnes.
Oblivious to her presence, he kept ranting about Laika.
Talking behind a co-star’s back probably wasn’t unusual.
Who doesn’t complain about coworkers or bosses behind their backs?
But getting caught doing it could be serious.
And it wasn’t good for the person who overheard either.
Iris debated whether to stay hidden behind the pillar or sneak out quietly toward the emergency exit.
But then, the phone call took a strange turn.
“Ahh, money really is the best. Today, I’ll get to see that bastard’s face smashed in. Where? The chandelier? Got it. I won’t go near that area.
“Ha, I feel like I’m finally letting go of a decade-long grudge. What? I don’t care if the movie production gets delayed. I just want that guy gone. Yeah, yeah. As long as you deal with him for sure, I’ll reward you plenty. I’ve got to go now. Bye.”
What the hell was that?
Iris covered her mouth and shrank further behind the pillar.
Holding her breath, she heard Desnes’ footsteps walk away, the elevator door open, then close.
Once she was sure he was gone, she let out the breath she had been holding.
“What did I just hear? Don’t tell me… Desnes is planning to harm Laika?”
Smashing his face, chandeliers—judging by what he said, something serious was going to happen during the shoot.
“As long as he disappears from my sight”…
Iris covered her mouth again, eyebrows furrowing.
This was bad.
Seriously bad…
“Desnes is in deep trouble. If he tries something like that, Laika won’t let it slide! He clearly has no idea who he’s messing with.”
Laika was a villain, with a status window so high it couldn’t even be fully read.
There’s no way someone like him would get taken down by a falling chandelier.
She was more worried about Desnes, who seemed determined to pull off this sloppy plan.
Instead of hurting Laika, he’d probably end up getting destroyed himself.
“Wait a minute. Was this scene in the comic? I read it so long ago, I can’t remember… Ah, right. The [Plot Recall] skill didn’t activate, so this must not be part of the original. So it’s new content!”
A scene that wasn’t in the original comic?
Could it be that the story had changed because she entered the comic?
If that were the case, this was serious.
If Laika, one of the main villains in the comic, got his head smashed by a chandelier and met a meaningless end, then Iris would lose her purpose…
Or actually… maybe that’d be perfect.
Yes, she had just kissed him, and yes, she had just been fantasizing about rubbing more than just lips with him, but…
Maybe having his head crushed by a chandelier was better than their bodies rubbing together.
“Wait? What if someone else takes care of that villain for me? Isn’t that the best-case scenario? Like blowing your nose without lifting a finger.”