"What kind of beauty salon did you go to?" Luther asked, staring at Lucian with incredulous eyes.
He had only skipped seeing his friend for a little more than twenty-four hours, yet the entire human being sitting across from him looked like he had undergone expensive makeup care.
’This bastard won’t even consider that I actually awakened,’ Lucian thought.
"Bro, you know what? I am even willing to pay, or even call you daddy, if you tell me how to change your bone structure, gain lustrous skin, and grow hair like that within a single day."
"Just shut up," Lucian said.
Willing his Qi to circulate, Lucian casually released a fraction of his refined spiritual pressure.
"?!"
Luther’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening in a look that silently screamed: WTF?!
A unique, suffocating weight settled over him as Lucian flared his Qi, Luther felt the undeniable, instinctual suppression of standing in front of a completely different level of lifeform.
Even though Luther was an awakened explorer with rock-hard skin, he felt effortlessly pinned to his seat.
"Did you awaken a gravity manipulation and beauty combo?!" Luther exclaimed in a hushed tone, interpreting the pressure entirely in his own way.
Then his face twisted in bitter jealousy.
"If I had an ability related to beauty, I would never become a damn explorer. I’d just enjoy life with high-tier beauties! But it’s not me, so... fuck you!"
Luther didn’t even attempt to hide his envy, openly cursing Lucian.
’Let’s just mess with this bastard,’ Lucian thought, leaning back on his chair.
Evaluating his current strength, Lucian knew he was powerful enough to fight a fully fledged, experienced A-Rank explorer—and using everything in his arsenal, he could likely hold his own against a weaker S-Rank. And he wasn’t talking about unproven academy cadets or prospects, but real combat veterans.
However, living inside the Academy meant constantly moving under the eyes of high-ranking awakeners. For all he knew, someone may possess telepathy or mind-reading. He refused to drag Luther into unnecessary danger until he had the absolute power to protect him.
With a subtle flick of his fingers under the table, Lucian erected a whisper-thin, invisible barrier of pure qi around them. It locked in the sound, ensuring not a single word leaked out.
Deciding a half-truth was the safest route, Lucian leaned forward with a serious expression.
"Listen, I am sharing this with only you, so don’t tell anyone. I got the ability to travel inside finished novels, and currently I am trapped in a realistic Zombie Apocalypse World."
"What kind of bullshit ability is that?! But why the hell did you choose a Zombie Apocalypse world?!"
Luther’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. But right after shouting the question, his otaku brain immediately kicked into overdrive, imagining the endless degenerate possibilities of jumping into fictional stories.
"Wipe that drool, I haven’t even been able to clear the first stage..." Lucian continued, keeping his voice deep.
He described the rotted future Earth in vivid, realistic detail, recounting the crumbling skyscrapers, the severed bridge, and the terrifying white-haired mutant exactly as he had experienced them. To explain his physical glow-up, he simply added a few game-like lies—claiming that killing zombies had granted him stat bonuses, including extra height, enhanced muscle density, and flawless skin.
His storytelling was exceptionally convincing.
By the time Lucian finished his pizza, Luther was leaning across the table with a dead-serious, grave look on his face.
"So the novel... was it a Zombie Apocalypse written by a Chinese author because you appeared in Shanghai? If so, we should track down the author online and learn about the hidden lore settings."
"Well, not really. I just thought about a zombie apocalypse and suddenly popped in there," Lucian replied with an easy shrug while Luther slammed the table with a ’damn’.
They spent the rest of the afternoon trading theories over food, with Luther thoroughly engrossed in dissecting Lucian’s "novel" ability.
Evening arrived, and the two friends finally parted ways. Luther walked off with his hands in his pockets, lost in deep, philosophical thought.
Returning to his room, Lucian locked the door and practiced circulating qi on his bed. Just as he had anticipated, the process was painfully slow; the ambient spiritual energy on Earth was far too thin compared to the environment of the Boundless Mystery Sect.
When he finally slept, he chose not to touch the silver mirror in his mind, falling asleep naturally.
After spending years in the secret realm, he wanted a few peaceful days to reacclimate to normal, modern life.
Four quiet days passed by in a smooth routine.
Lucian attended his theoretical lectures, completed basic conditioning drills, and got used to practicing his breath techniques under Earth’s thin atmosphere.
Around the campus, his reputation spiked noticeably. His naturally handsome features had been sharpened by bone-tempering, and his clear, glowing complexion drew plenty of wandering glances from female cadets in the hallways.
Then, Sunday morning arrived.
Lucian stood in front of his closet, selecting a clean, casual jacket. Today was the promised date he had agreed to treat Mari to.
A rather early morning date.
***
Early Morning At Seven.
Lucian waited at the Academy Plaza entrance with a rented motorcycle parked at the curb. Everyone liked going on dates, but proper preparation was also necessary.
As a probationer on a modest stipend, he wasn’t rich enough to simply buy his own ride yet.
Before long, a slender silhouette appeared across the plaza walkway. Mari was wearing a light bluish-white dress paired with flowing white palazzo pants, looking simple yet effortlessly elegant.
"You look exceptionally beautiful today," Lucian said with a warm smile. Coincidentally, his dark blue jacket complemented the tones of her outfit.
"Thank you..." Mari said softly, a faint pink tinting her cheeks as her blonde hair fluttered in the morning breeze.
Lucian kicked up the kickstand and swung onto the saddle. Mari hopped on behind him, her hands resting naturally around his waist.
For a while, they simply cruised through the scenic highways looping outside Academy City before stopping at a quiet terrace cafe for breakfast.
They enjoyed a hearty, easygoing meal together. Mari eventually brought up his awakening, but Lucian decided to keep the details under wraps for now, telling her he was saving the surprise for this quarter’s year-end tournament.
It was already late November. When December arrived, the Academy’s massive group battles and individual combat tournaments would kick off. Top-ranking explorers and guild scouts from across the globe attended the event every year, creating an international stage for newly awakened talents to show off their powers and secure lucrative contracts.
Time slipped away without either of them noticing.
Mari had booked tickets to a classical stage play hosted in a hall designed like a mini opera house. Afterward, they visited the city aquarium, strolled through the botanical zoo, went on a small shopping spree, watched a comedy film, and competed fiercely at the arcade machines. In short, they had an immense amount of fun.
Mari had also wanted to visit the amusement park on the north side, but they simply ran out of hours.
It was nearly five in the evening when they decided to park the bike by the central city park and sit on a wooden bench beneath the shade of the trees, resting their feet and reminiscing about old days.
However, something had been irking Mari for the past few hours.
"Why are all the women constantly looking at you?" Mari asked with a somewhat dissatisfied pout, crossing her arms.
Lucian could only shrug helplessly, but he didn’t miss the chance to score a few easy points.
"I too feel people looking at your beautiful self. Maybe we appear good together?"
Hearing that, Mari’s pout smoothed into a proud, satisfied little smirk.
’Maybe I became a little too good for this world,’ Lucian thought with a sudden flicker of narcissism.
But the next moment, he mentally hit the delete button and cleared the thought from his head. The world was wide, and the universe beyond the silver mirror was infinitely wider.
"You really do look different now. Remember when we first met, you had this stoic face," Mari commented, mimicking Lucian’s old, unblinking glare.
Lucian’s expression softened with a wry smile. Back then, everything had been brand new to him, and he was too focused on surviving the Academy’s probation quota to care about what anyone thought of his looks. Who could have guessed that Mari had taken an interest in him even back then?
Lucian leaned back slightly against the bench.
"I wonder what you were thinking looking at me at that time."
"Well, nothing earth-shaking," Mari said softly.
She reached over, interlacing her fingers with Lucian’s hand before gently resting her head against his shoulder.
The breeze was cool, the park was quiet, and the mood was practically perfect. Deciding the timing was right, Lucian took a steady breath.
"Mari, can you do it?"
"W-What?!"
Hearing the question out of nowhere, Mari froze in complete shock.
Until now, nothing really physical had ever happened between them. Though they occasionally flirted in person and spent hours texting late at night, a sudden, ambiguous question like that caught her completely off-guard!
Mari was well aware of their contrasting social statuses, but she had always held out hope that Lucian would awaken, smoothing out the difference. But even if he remained unawakened, she had enough personal wealth from her family lineage to comfortably support a man. Her S-rank father would be displeased at first, but she was confident he would come to accept it over time.
After all, didn’t he love his daughter?
And as for her snobbish friends? She was powerful enough that no outsider dared dictate her private life.
Just as Mari finished steadying her racing heart, Lucian’s calm voice sounded right by her ear once again.
"Mari, I want you to use your ability on me once."
"?"
Mari stared at him, utterly flabbergasted.
Before her disbelief could turn into genuine indignation, Lucian suppressed a quiet laugh. Reaching out with his free hand, he gently cupped the side of her face and leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips.
"???"
Mari’s eyes widened in stunned surprise.
When their lips finally parted, Lucian looked at her with gentle amusement, casually tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
"That was too sudden!" Mari squeaked, instantly burying her bright red face into the fabric of his blue jacket.
"We can always do this later when you want, but for now, how about you use your ability on me?" Lucian coaxed, lightly patting her head.
Mari raised her head just enough to glare at him with flushed, suspicious eyes.
’I definitely won’t fall for it the second time!’ she vowed inwardly, assuming he was merely playing another elaborate tease.
She had no idea that Lucian was completely, dead-serious about testing his new body.