Chapter 52 - Garden of Nak (4)

Garden of Nak (4)

When she flicked her fingers, two square plates appeared on the table. Piled up on it were… wooden blocks.

“The first to build a castle win.”

“… … .”

I doubted my ears for a moment, but her expression was very serious.

“If anyone attacks or touches the other, it would mean disqualification. Touching the opponent’s castle would also get you disqualified. If a block drops or was not properly placed, the castle would be reset.”

With another gesture from her graceful hands, the two chairs facing the table slowly moved backward, as if inviting us to sit on them.

“If you build a castle first, or if I get disqualified, you win. That’s it. However, if I build a castle first, or if you get disqualified, or your castle resets, you lose. Lose five times; you need to leave the garden and try again. You have to pay 100 gold again.”

“…that’s all?”

“Huh.”

She laughed. My heart thumped violently as she did. With one light laugh from her, it was as if my heart was getting crushed.

“Yes, that’s all. Now, then come and sit down.”

She led me over to a chair, and we sat down.

The game started right away. She began to build a castle calmly and in a relaxed manner. I couldn’t stop staring at her beauty. She caught me watching her, and laughed again as if she knew my situation.

Okay. It’s ridiculous, but I haven’t even picked up a single block. Her radiant appearance was taking all my attention, and I seemed to be unable to do anything in front of her.

Being in a monster’s body, I know how powerful appearance is.

I learned how foolish it is to judge a person only by appearance, and nevertheless, I also knew that everyone, including myself, could not be free from the influence of appearance.

I thought I knew, but it seems that I have been underestimating the power of appearance.

She is beautiful.

Looking at her pale skin, her small nose, her slightly reddish cheeks, her red lips, her big and deep eyes, her sharp ears, her dark hair, her thin, smooth arms, her beautifully swollen breasts, her thin waist…

It was very difficult to take my glance off her. My eyes roamed all over her parts.

Not only that. Her body had a wonderful scent, and a refreshing wind seemed to blow around her. All of her haunted me. It was difficult to breathe just by facing her.

Now, I could fully understand Rain’s words. Advanced Detection is poison in this situation. The more I sensed her presence, the more I became unable to compose myself.

Cut it off.

Don’t be conscious.

Just remember how I was treated by humans just by being reborn as a monster.

Realize how foolish it is to judge one’s existence by their beauty alone.

“What is it? Go ahead,” she gestured towards my blocks. Her melodic voice put me out of my thoughts.

This is an ordeal. An ordeal against a monster that is scarier than the monsters I encountered in Jinma Tower.

Forget about her looks.

I paid a price of 100 gold to get here. If I don’t defeat her, I can’t evolve. I will not be able to move forward.

No matter how beautiful and sweet she is, she is my enemy, after all.

So, you have to focus. Don’t get shaken by her appearance. It is a blasphemy against yourself who had survived fiercely until this moment.

Abnormal Resistance. It is the sole skill that I turned active at the moment, and I raised it to the limit.

The refreshing wind that brought the scent of flowers gradually subsided.

Her appearance gradually fades in my head.

[Intermediate Abnormal Resistance becomes Lv10 and evolves to Advanced Abnormal Resistance. You will not be subjected to the intermediate level or lower. There is a possibility to resist even higher state abnormalities.]

Only after that did I saw the plate in front of my eyes. It was full of wooden blocks.

“… uh?”

She made a small sound as she noticed that I started working on the blocks.

I ignored her. Being fascinated by her voice would be fatal.

It wasn’t that difficult to build a castle. I just need to build pillars, walls, and roofs.

Once my hands started moving, the rest was easy. Almost mechanically, I moved to stack blocks.

I knew that dropping even a single piece would reset the castle, so I moved carefully.

“Now, wait a second…” she murmured.

Is it because I’m in my soul state? Even though I wasn’t in my original monster’s body, I had no problem thinking and acting with this strange human form that I had.

Rather, because of the dramatic difference in body shape, I was gradually getting used to the difficult parts of the building blocks. This wasn’t a game. It seemed like a physical rehabilitation exercise.

Too bad that I have to return to the bugbear body later.

“Fate, look at me.”

The foundations were completed. I am starting to build the pillars. It seemed that the table was getting bigger. Every time the blocks settled in place, an unknown fullness filled my heart.

“How…? Nonsense. This is nonsense.”

[Advanced Abnormality Resistance has become Lv2.]

Place a pillar to support the center, and erect other pillars as needed.

I wasn’t interested in anything like this, but now my hands were moving surprisingly and without hesitation.

Was it because I was blocking all my senses that I was getting more immersed in building a castle? It was unexpectedly fun. I found out that I also had the talent to immerse myself in one thing.

“How are you doing this? Who is it? Someone must have told Fate!”

At that moment, my hand stopped. I almost instinctively lifted my head, but I fought back with clenched teeth.

I don’t know how she did it, but the impulse that had disappeared was pushing into my head again. The instinct that I had been trying to ignore was trying to devour my focus.

It was more difficult to endure her charm.

“Yes, Fate. Have you reached your limit now?”

I thought of the Fallen, who died because they were wearing the skin of a monster.

I remembered the Phoenix Hunters, who thought they were better than the Fallen just because they have human forms.

Endure. 

Endure. 

I endured her increased charms.

[Advanced Abnormality Resistance has become Lv3.]

“Fate. Fate?”

My hands started to move again. The interior of the castle was divided and decorated with several blocks. Because the blocks are all different sizes, I had to pay close attention to the balance, but it was also fun.

Only the step of building the roof was left. Even though I was just building blocks, I felt my spirit was gradually elevating. It seemed that my soul, along with my castle, was getting higher and more solid as time passed.

“Fate!”

“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.