novelraw Chapter 167: Embarrassment
Chapter 167: Embarrassment
From embarrassment alone, Aeloria genuinely looked seconds away from freezing herself.
One hand immediately flew up to cover the lower half of her face while rainwater dripped softly through strands of blue hair sticking against her cheeks. Even then, the redness creeping across the tips of her ears remained painfully visible beneath the storm.
"(⸝⸝⸝╸▵╺⸝⸝⸝)... dear heavens..."
She physically turned her head away afterward like looking at Si Hon any longer might emotionally kill her on the spot.
Which honestly only made the situation worse.
Because despite the dragon corpse nearby, despite the rain, despite the destroyed school around them, her passive skill of being naturally and unfairly adorable continued activating against everybody’s will like some kind of war crime.
Even Seong looked mildly affected.
Not romantically.
More like mentally exhausted.
She stood nearby massaging her temple slowly with one hand while rain slid down the side of her face, expression completely dead inside.
"Why is he like this..." she muttered quietly. "ಠ,_ ｣ಠ I feel like my lifespan shortens every time he opens his mouth..."
Meanwhile Mihu stood frozen in place beside Han and Suha looking completely overwhelmed by literally everything happening at once.
The dragon.
The rain.
The emotional yelling.
The fact Si Hon was currently soaked head to toe while throwing a public mental breakdown in front of everybody like a kid who didn’t get what he wants.
Han stared openly.
Suha blinked slowly, confused.
Neither of them even tried interrupting anymore.
Mimi floated nearby while holding Spoony tightly against her chest, tiny legs kicking uselessly through the air as she watched Si Hon spiral emotionally in real time.
「Dad is having another emotional collapse again... (・_・;)」
"YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND ME!" Si Hon snapped immediately without even looking at her.
Rain splashed around him as he pointed dramatically toward Jisoo like an offended lawyer who had finally reached his breaking point after twenty-seven failed court cases.
"ALSO," he barked loudly, "AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE KILLING THE DRAGON?!"
The field went oddly quiet for a second.
Even Jisoo blinked.
"What?"
"To get the experience!" Si Hon shouted while aggressively gesturing toward the gigantic dragon corpse nearby. "YOU’RE THE MAIN CHARACT—"
He stopped.
Mid sentence.
Mid rant.
Rain continued falling softly around everyone while thunder rumbled somewhere far away across the city skyline.
Then slowly...
Very slowly...
Si Hon’s expression changed.
"Wait."
His eyes drifted toward the dragon’s body lying half buried within collapsed concrete and shattered debris nearby. Smoke still curled faintly upward from between broken black scales while rain hissed softly against its corpse.
A pause.
Then another.
(Experience?)
Si Hon blinked once.
(Wait.)
His exhausted brain finally crawled its way toward the realization.
(I didn’t get any notifications.)
His face flattened instantly.
"ಠ_ಠ..."
Slowly, he pushed himself upright from the soaked grass while everyone nearby unconsciously took a small step back.
Not because they feared him.
Mostly because nobody trusted what embarrassing thing he might do next.
Which honestly?
Reasonable.
Rainwater dripped from his hair as he stared silently at the dragon corpse for another long second before finally speaking again.
"Mimi."
The tiny white haired girl floated beside him while wobbling slightly in the air from earlier exhaustion, Spoony still clutched proudly in her hands.
「Yes? ( ╹▽╹ )」
"Did I ever get the notification?"
Mimi blinked once.
Then twice.
Then tilted her head slightly before shaking it.
「Nope! Wait... (ಠ_ಠ)>⌐■-■ agh... wah!?」
Right as she answered, blue light suddenly flickered across the rain filled air directly in front of Si Hon.
Everyone froze instinctively.
The translucent system screen expanded upward rapidly, glowing brightly against the dark storm clouds overhead while reflected blue light shimmered across everybody’s faces.
Then—
[You have successfully slain a Dragon.]
[36 Levels have been awarded.]
[98,***** Experience Points acquired.]
[Experience distribution in progress.]
Silence.
Pure silence.
Rain fell softly across the destroyed school grounds while everybody stared at the floating notification.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
Si Hon’s eyes narrowed.
"ಠ_ಠ"
Another pause.
Then he looked toward the dragon corpse again.
"Fuck."
Rain dripped from his chin.
"So it lived for like..."
A pause.
"six or seven business days before dying?"
After that...
first.
The moment the dragon notification faded from the rain filled air, she lunged forward without hesitation and grabbed Si Hon’s wrist tightly before he could wander off and emotionally damage everyone with his embarrassing tantrum again.
Her grip locked around his hand immediately.
Firm.
Warm.
Aggressively suspicious.
Si Hon’s eye twitched.
"Wait."
Jisoo narrowed her eyes instantly.
"What."
But Si Hon wasn’t even looking at her anymore.
His gaze drifted past the steaming dragon corpse nearby, then toward the floating projection of Mimi wobbling softly in the rain, and finally toward the black goo like ring wrapped around his finger.
The ring pulsed faintly.
Almost excited.
And then something clicked inside his head.
(Wait...)
His exhausted brain dragged itself toward a memory.
(Isn’t Mimi still Phase One...?)
Rain continued falling softly around them while steam rose endlessly from the dragon’s massive corpse nearby. Every raindrop that touched the black scales evaporated instantly with a faint hiss, making the entire thing look like a mountain of burning metal collapsed across the ruined school yard.
Si Hon slowly started walking toward it.
Jisoo immediately frowned harder and pulled his arm back.
Except—
He didn’t move.
At all.
Jisoo blinked once.
Then pulled harder.
Still nothing.
"...ಠ_ಠ huh?"
For the first time since meeting him, genuine confusion slipped into her voice.
"What are you doing?"
Si Hon only glanced at her briefly before continuing forward anyway, practically dragging Jisoo along behind him through sheer stubbornness alone.
Honestly, it looked less like romance and more like an exhausted raccoon towing an angry detective through the rain.
Nearby, the others watched silently while steam curled around the dragon corpse in massive waves.
Then Si Hon finally stopped directly in front of it.
The heat hit immediately.
Even standing feets away, the dragon’s body still radiated enough warmth to push against the cold rain around them. Steam rolled endlessly from its scales while cracked black blood slowly mixed into puddles forming beneath the corpse.
Si Hon ignored all of that.
Instead, he lifted his right hand slightly.
More specifically—
The ring.
"Mimi," he asked casually, "don’t you need one boss monster for Phase Two?"
The floating projection of Mimi immediately straightened in the air like someone had just offered a child unlimited candy and minor violence.
Her tiny eyes widened.
Then she started nodding so hard her entire body bounced up and down midair.
「NO, BUT I CAN STILL ABSORB IT!!!!! (☆▽☆)」
Another aggressive nod.
「And... It’s a boss monster!! Big dragon!! Strong dragon!! Very crunchy probably!! (≧▽≦)」
Spoony spun in her hand dramatically.
「PHASE TWO MATERIAL!! ( •̀へ •́ )」