Chương 109: Grow Stronger

Dimitri threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't a quiet chuckle. It was the kind of laugh that rolled out of a man's chest with enough enthusiasm to make nearby people glance over just to see what wonderful thing life had done for him. His massive hand came down against the edge of his new shield with a solid clang. The sound echoed through the surrounding area.

"Our magnificent little fellowship has grown stronger together!" Dimitri declared proudly, his thick Russian accent somehow turning a shopping trip into the opening speech before a glorious campaign.

"We have sharpened our fangs, reinforced our defenses, and prepared ourselves for the trials ahead." He grinned, eyes shining with excitement.

"Tomorrow, we shall ascend to the Third Floor." He clenched a fist over his heart.

"And I must admit, my excellent brother, I am filled with anticipation. There is something deeply exhilarating about stepping toward the unknown with comrades one trusts." I couldn't help smiling at that. Honestly, Dimitri had a talent. The man could announce breakfast plans and somehow make it sound like we were marching to reclaim a kingdom. Meanwhile, if I tried giving an inspirational speech, it'd probably end with someone asking if I was okay. I folded my arms.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"I'm looking forward to it too." I glanced around our little group.

"Which is honestly weird." I scratched my cheek.

"Not the excitement part. The fact that I'm voluntarily agreeing to climb toward increasingly dangerous floors filled with monsters that want to rearrange my internal organs." I pointed toward myself.

"Past Me would've called Current Me an idiot." I paused.

"Actually, Present Me is still calling Current Me an idiot." I shrugged.

"But now I'm an idiot with a cool revolver." Growth. Personal development. Character progression. Whatever fancy label therapists would put on this mess. The evening sunlight filtering through the Player Center's tall windows had softened considerably. The warm amber glow painted the polished floors beneath our feet. Adventurers wandered around us carrying newly purchased gear. Some tested weapons. Others compared equipment. There was a subtle energy hanging in the air. The calm before another climb.

The brief period where everyone prepared themselves before stepping into uncertainty again. Then I noticed June, Fiona, and Aiko approaching us. Fiona looked cheerful as always. Aiko walked carefully, hands clasped together in front of her, looking like she'd apologize if someone accidentally bumped into her from three cities away. And June... June looked exactly like June. Elegant posture. Perfect composure. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The sort of confidence usually found in people born believing mirrors existed solely to admire them. I raised an eyebrow.

"Alright." I pointed toward her.

"My curiosity has officially activated." I gestured at Dimitri's shield.

"We've seen Captain Fortress over here unveil his portable castle." I tapped my own chest.

"I introduced everyone to Thunderclap, my newly adopted financial mistake." I spread my hands.

"So what about you?" I looked directly at June.

"What did Her Majesty decide to bless the marketplace with her gold coins and an unreasonable amount of judgment for?" June's lips curved upward ever so slightly. Subtle. Controlled. Dangerous. Then, with all the restraint of someone accepting praise she had expected from the beginning, she lifted her chin. Her posture straightened even further. Which I previously would've thought impossible. The woman somehow managed to puff out her chest with enough pride to challenge the concept of modesty itself.

"You shall discover it soon enough," June replied smoothly in her thick British accent. Her tone carried the confidence of someone holding a winning hand in a card game.

"But not yet." I blinked.

"... What?" June simply looked at me. Calm. Collected. Smug. The expression of a woman who knew exactly how much that answer would annoy me.

"You heard me," she said.

"Patience is a virtue." I stared at her.

"You do realize you're making this dramatically suspicious, right?"

"I prefer to think of it as cultivating anticipation."

"You bought something weird, didn't you?" A faint smile touched her lips.

"I suppose you'll simply have to wait and see." I pointed accusingly at her.

"You know, normal people just answer questions." June looked entirely unconcerned.

"How dreadful. Fortunately, I've never claimed to be normal." I let out a slow sigh. Then another. Then looked toward the ceiling as if appealing to a higher power.

"Great." I lowered my gaze back toward her.

"So now we've got a mysterious gear reveal scheduled for the future." I folded my arms.

"Fantastic." I pointed at June one last time.

"I just want everyone here to know that if it turns out you bought something absurd, I reserve the right to say I told you so." June merely smiled. Which somehow made me even more suspicious. My attention shifted away from June before her mysterious gear marketing campaign could give me an aneurysm. There was only so much suspense one person could weaponize before it became a public safety concern. Instead, I looked toward the safest member of our group. Aiko. The human equivalent of a warm cup of tea.

If June generated questions, Aiko generated emotional stability. I smiled.

"Alright then, Aiko-chan." I pointed toward her.

"Your turn." I tilted my head slightly.

"What did you end up buying?" The moment the spotlight landed on her, Aiko visibly shrank. Not physically. Emotionally. Like a startled rabbit that had suddenly realized everyone was looking in its direction. A faint blush spread across her cheeks. Her fingers immediately moved to her bangs, gently playing with the strands of hair as she avoided direct eye contact. There it was. The classic Aiko defense mechanism. If she couldn't escape the conversation, she would attempt to become one with her hairstyle.

"A-Aiko..." she began softly. Her voice was barely louder than the surrounding marketplace noise.

"Aiko bought a new armor." She glanced down. Then up. Then immediately down again.

"I-It isn't equipped yet, s-so Aiko cannot show everyone right now..." Her fingers continued nervously twisting a lock of hair.

"B-But Aiko promises that tomorrow, before everyone returns to the dungeon, Aiko will show Arthur-san and the others." She nodded quickly.

"As long as nobody minds waiting a little." The smile that followed was small. Gentle. Shy. The kind of smile that somehow made you instinctively lower your voice because anything louder felt rude. I couldn't help grinning.

"Hey, that's perfectly fine." I waved dismissively.

"We've already got one teammate hiding her gear behind mystery trailers and promotional campaigns." I pointed toward June.

"I think I can survive waiting one more day." June looked mildly offended. Which only improved my mood. Then I turned back toward Aiko. Honestly, I wasn't worried. Not even a little. Because if there was one thing I'd learned about Aiko, it was that she put more thought into decisions than the rest of us combined. I folded my arms.

"You know, I don't even need to see the armor." Aiko blinked.

"H-Huh?" I nodded confidently.

"I'm serious." I pointed toward her.

"If you're the one who picked it, then it's probably a good purchase." I shrugged.

"Actually, scratch that." I raised a finger.

"It's definitely a good purchase." Aiko's eyes widened slightly. The blush on her face deepened. I continued before she could self-destruct from embarrassment.

"Meanwhile, the rest of us are over here making decisions based on things like cool names, shiny metal, and whether the item makes us look awesome while dramatically standing on rocks." I tapped my chest.

"Case in point." Thunderclap. Wonderful weapon. Absolutely fantastic purchase. Would I have bought it if it was named Mildly Acceptable Revolver Number Seven? Probably not. The marketplace knew what it was doing. Aiko let out a tiny laugh. The sound was soft enough that it almost disappeared beneath the surrounding chatter of the Player Center. Still. I caught it. Then she smiled. A real smile. Sweet. Genuine. Uncomplicated. And just like that, my brain immediately forgot how to behave normally.

Which was unfortunate. Because I was already operating with limited inventory space up there. I felt myself awkwardly looking away for a moment. Not because anything was wrong. Quite the opposite. That was the problem. Aiko had this habit of smiling at people with complete sincerity. No hidden agenda. No sarcasm. No complicated subtext. Just kindness. And somehow that made me significantly more uncomfortable than being shot at. Monsters were easy. Monsters wanted to kill you. Very straightforward.

Human interactions? Terrifying. I rubbed the back of my neck. Honestly, I still wasn't used to it. A cute girl smiling at me like that always short-circuited something in my head. Not in a bad way. Just in a deeply unfamiliar way. Like somebody had suddenly handed me responsibility for a very expensive vase and trusted me not to drop it. My brain never knew what to do with that. So instead, I did what any reasonable man would do when confronted with emotions.

I pretended my social skills were functioning normally and hoped nobody noticed the smoke coming out of the control panel.