On Asher’s forehead was sweat, and Asher knew what would happen once Irene made contact.
"Don’t touch me." He immediately grabbed her wrist, only to realise that he had fucked up.
The instant their skin came into contact, it felt as though Irene had touched a piece of burning metal.
A scorching yet strangely painless force surged through her wrist and rapidly flowed into her body, causing the mana within her to accelerate uncontrollably.
Her body trembled slightly. At the very same moment, Asher released her hand and quickly stepped backward.
[Direct physical contact detected.]
[Target influence level increased to 12%.]
[Physical compatibility has begun resonating.]
[The target’s instinctive sense of closeness toward the Host is increasing.]
[Warning: The Host’s physique is currently out of control.]
[Time remaining until midnight: 37 minutes.]
Irene lowered her head to look at her wrist.
The strange sensation had already disappeared.
But the unusually accelerated mana flowing through her body had still not returned to normal.
Even the bottleneck that had trapped her at the peak of D-Rank for over half a year had loosened ever so slightly.
She suddenly raised her head.
"You awakened?"
Asher did not answer. But his silence itself was already the answer.
The concern on Irene’s face was instantly replaced by astonishment.
"When?"
"Just now."
"What rank? What type of ability?"
"I don’t know."
"You haven’t gone to the Hunter Association for an appraisal?"
"I just woke up."
Only then did Irene realise that something had indeed been wrong with Asher ever since she entered the room.
His body temperature was abnormally high.
This was clearly not an ordinary Awakening.
She instinctively took another step closer.
Asher immediately said,
"Don’t come any closer."
Irene stopped where she was.
"Your ability is out of control?"
"More or less."
Asher chose not to hide it any longer.
There were fewer than forty minutes left until midnight.
By himself, there was simply no way he could find another person who met the mission’s requirements.
Rather than wasting precious time fabricating a lie that could be exposed at any moment, it was better to selectively tell Irene part of the truth.
"I awakened a special physique. It affects any adult woman who comes close to me, and right now I can’t control it."
Irene immediately connected it to what she had just experienced.
"A charm-type ability?"
"I think it’s more complicated than an ordinary charm ability."
"So that scent just now... was part of your ability too?"
"Yes."
Irene fell silent.
She carefully sensed the changes in her body before voluntarily stepping backward several paces. Only after enough distance separated them did the strange sensation of her accelerating heartbeat finally begin to subside.
She was not angry that she had been affected.
Instead, her expression became even more serious.
Hunter Awakenings had never been completely safe.
Every year, people were injured because they awakened abilities they could not control.
Some Awakeners possessing powerful bloodlines even lost control entirely and transformed into monsters that knew nothing except slaughter.
"Besides affecting women, what other side effects does it have?"
Irene asked.
Asher glanced at the countdown displayed on the system interface.
"If I can’t stabilise the power inside my body before midnight... I’ll die."
"What?"
Irene’s expression changed instantly.
"Are you certain?"
"I’m certain."
"We’re going to the Hunter Association right now."
Without the slightest hesitation, she turned to open the door.
"It’s too late."
Asher said calmly.
Irene froze.
"There are only a little over thirty minutes left before midnight. The nearest Hunter Association branch is at least twenty kilometres away. Even if we rushed there now, there’s no way they’d be able to diagnose my condition in time."
"Then... how do you stabilise it?"
The room fell silent once again.
Asher did not answer.
But when Irene noticed the translucent screen floating before him—which she herself could not see—and the hesitation on his face, an almost absurd possibility gradually surfaced in her mind.
The tips of her ears slowly turned red.
"It... can’t possibly be what I’m thinking?"
"It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking."
"..."
Irene stared at him, stunned for several long seconds.
"Are you sure you didn’t just make that up to trick me?"
"If I wanted to deceive you, I wouldn’t have warned you beforehand that my ability was already affecting your body."
Asher met her gaze directly.
"And I won’t force you."
"If you choose to leave now, I won’t stop you. But from the moment you walk out that door, it’s best not to let any other adult woman come near this place. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what my ability might do to them."
Irene remained silent.
She knew Asher was telling the truth.
Every reaction her body had experienced since entering the room had been completely real.
Especially the power that had flowed into her during their brief physical contact—it was far beyond the capabilities of an ordinary charm Skill.
Yet asking her to make such a decision in so little time...
It was simply too sudden.
"How much time is left?"
"Fifteen minutes."
"Weren’t there still over thirty just now?"
"You stayed silent longer than you realised."
Irene hurriedly looked at the electronic watch on her wrist.
11:45 PM.
Her breathing gradually became heavier.
Asher did not urge her.
Even as the countdown to his death continued decreasing before his eyes, he remained standing exactly where he was, leaving the final decision entirely to Irene.
No matter how powerful the System’s physique might be, he did not want his very first step to be stealing away another person’s reason without her knowledge.
"If I help you..."
Irene finally spoke.
"You’ll survive?"
"I will."
"And your ability will come under control?"
"I’ll only gain basic control over it."
"So if I don’t help you... other people could be affected tomorrow?"
"That’s right."
Irene bit her lower lip.
Looking down at her own hands, memories of everything Lina had once taught her involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
Without Lina, she would probably have died during her very first Spatial Gate training exercise.
And now, Lina’s only son stood before her with fewer than fifteen minutes left to live.
Could she really turn around and leave?
Slowly, Irene raised her head.
"Go stand on the other side of the room."
Asher looked slightly surprised, but still walked over to the window as she requested.
As the distance between them increased, the mysterious influence surrounding Irene weakened once again.
Her previously muddled thoughts gradually became clear.
The System was not controlling her.
At least not yet.
She could still think rationally.
She could still unlock the door and walk away whenever she wished.
Yet after a brief silence, she reached back and locked the door.
Click.