Chapter 52 - Garden of Nak (4) (2/2)

“Oh!”

At that moment, all my concentration broke. My mind flashed as if cold water was poured all over my body. I raised my head.

She was holding my hand.

[Winning the First Game of the Garden of Nak1/1]

[Owner of the garden committed a foul. She will pay you for the penalty she has committed.]

A notification window popped up quietly. Since she took my hand first, I won the first game.

Even with my Advanced Abnormality Resistance, my reason seems to be falling apart as she held me, but I desperately endured.

As I was struggling to resist the rising lust, I saw tears in her eyes.

“How did you endure it?! Me?! How dare you ignore me!”

Damn! Her beauty was so precious that I feared touching her would damage her.

“First, let me go… !” I managed to say.

“Ah… … Ah.”

Her eyes went wide open, and soon, she let go of my hand. A feeling of loss swept through me as she did, but at the same time, a feeling of relief. It was a strange mood.

I spoke without looking at her.

“I must endure your charms to win. So, I just put up with it.”

“You should have failed at least a dozen times! No, even hundreds or thousands of times!”

If I fail thousands of times, it means that I will be throwing away hundreds of thousands of gold. I only have 2,000 gold right now, from the battle with Phoenix Hunters. It’s ridiculous.

“You are… you shouldn’t have… argh! Where are you looking at?!”

I said, straight ahead.

“Fate! I’m looking at you now!”

“I don’t know you,” I answered immediately. “I was once a human being, and now I’m Fate, a bugbear. I have never known for a moment with a beautiful girl like you.”

“Ha…”

She closed her eyes. She raised her arms and covered her face with her hem. When the hem went down, her face looked more emotional.

“Yes, today is our first meeting.”

Her beauty didn’t fade at all. I couldn’t understand why Rain laughed. She looked beautiful, even when she was angry.

“And you proved your qualifications by winning the first game with me.”

Then she glanced at my unfinished castle on the table.

“I used a force that didn’t fit the first level, and that is considered a foul. Fate, I’ll make your castle stronger and more beautiful in return.”

When she swung one hand, the rest of the blocks went into their places, forming a great castle by themselves.

Strangely enough, I felt uplifted at that moment. It was as if the soul moved to the next level.

Intuitively, I realized that it wasn’t just an ordinary blocky castle.

“Fate, let me know.”

“What?”

“How the hell did you endure me? I’ll just listen. I promise.”

I don’t have anything to hide. So, I answered, honestly.

“… I just put up with it.”

“What?”

“Everything.”

She was silent for a moment. Then, she slowly approached my face. Her scent made me frightened. It was more difficult now than in the game.

Eye-to-eye contact. I saw my reflection in her eyes.

“No way you could have done it alone,” she murmured.

She stepped back. The room vibrated. Her body was trembling.

“I won’t forgive you… … !”

Anger… anger that did not suit her was now dominating the room.

“Whoever it is who helped you, one day, I will surely use my two hands…!”

Mana raged. It was a really great power.

If I had my physical body here now, it would have been shattered because of her power.

I was able to endure it because I am in my soul state.

Suddenly, she shouted.

“Fate, leave now! Don’t get caught by me!”

She asked me how I endured it, then turned angry and made leave. It was really strange.

But she is right. Since I already won the game, I don’t have to stay here. I must fight against countless monsters, win, and eat. I have to move on to the next step.

I approached the door. But before opening the door, I looked back at her.

She was standing in the middle of a storm of energy, still looking very beautiful.

“Tell me your name,” I asked her

“What…?”

The storm faded for a moment.

She looks beautiful even as she had a confused expression, I thought.

“The next time I come, I want to call you by a name. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pseudonym. Give me a name I could call you.”

“What names did they give you?”

There is no doubt about who ‘they’ were.

“Rain, and A.”

“Garbage.”

She laughed. I thought I had seen that laugh somewhere, and it soon came to mind. It was similar to Lee Chan-yu’s laugh.

“Okay, Fate, will you call me ‘L’ from now on?”

I nodded.

“Yes, L.”

Then, I left the Garden of Nak.

I turned into a bugbear once more, the battle against monsters resumed.