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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Barbarian Warrior Who Hides His Face in a Reversed World
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Lizardgirl warrior Gregor, who was past her early twenties, was a fighter brimming with confidence.
Even before she came to the Labyrinth City, there was no one among her tribe members who could rival her.
And that fact hadn't changed much even after she arrived in the Labyrinth City.
Reaching the third floor of the Labyrinth within two months of entry.
While certainly not an unprecedented record, it was an excellent achievement, ranking among the top.
Thanks to that, she had already received love calls from various clans. They had recognized her excellent talent early on.
It was truly a rosy future. From now on, it was nothing but smooth sailing.
One day, such a Gregor encountered her fated partner in a tavern.
A man whose chest and biceps seemed ready to burst, thick triceps sculpted like art, tightly defined external obliques, and a six-pack barely visible beneath a blanket.
A man whose entire physique screamed primal desire was sitting alone in a corner of the inn's pub.
If even her reptilian beastkin self felt such a strong pull, how must he appear to humans, elves, or other beastkin?
She couldn't even begin to imagine.
The quick-witted Lizardgirl noticed that the gazes of the other females in the inn were slowly turning towards him.
Strong females devour strong males. And strong males, when forcibly devoured after a fierce battle, taste even better.
Recalling the proverb passed down through generations of the Lizardfolk, Gregor began to make an overly aggressive appeal.
And so began the arm-wrestling match.
Gregor was overflowing with confidence.
She was praised by her kin in the village as the best warrior and was proving herself even in the infamous Labyrinth City.
Everything she had achieved so far filled Gregor with solid confidence.
The man before her had the sturdy, powerful physique of a warrior, but he was still just a male.
If even other females couldn't defeat her, how could a male possibly win?
Overwhelming confidence. Overwhelming self-assurance.
"…Huh?"
That confidence began to crumble the moment the helmeted man took her hand.
It was different.
He had simply gripped her hand, but she was certain.
A large, firm hand, calloused all over.
'What the hell…?'
Their palms met, fingers intertwined over the back of her hand, and they settled into the arm-wrestling position.
It wasn't that she, the female, had taken the initiative; rather, the male's strength had forcefully corrected her posture, as if pulling her into place.
"What, scared? You can go back if you're not confident."
The helmeted man repeated her own words, chuckling softly.
"…Scared? I was just checking your grip strength, male."
She retorted, gripping his hand tightly.
Gulp.
She swallowed without realizing it.
An explorer who had reached the third floor of the Labyrinth was tensing up and breaking out in a cold sweat over a mere arm-wrestling match at a pub.
"Are both parties ready?"
Someone had appeared, seemingly acting as a referee, confirming their intentions.
The moment both nodded simultaneously, the referee released their clasped hands.
SMASH!
The match was over in an instant.
The pride of the third-floor warrior collapsed.
"I called the underdog! Yeah!"
Nam Su-jin, who had bet his entire fortune on the gamble, cheered and performed a victory taunt.
***
"Fuck! This is invalid!"
A voice of protest burst out from among the drunkards who had gathered like a crowd.
"You guys rigged this, didn't you?! The result makes no sense!"
"Hey, hey. Look at Gregor, her mind's completely gone. If that's acting, she should quit adventuring and join a theater troupe."
"His strength-based technique is quite something."
"He's a new face in Valerius. A rookie explorer? I haven't heard any news about a new rookie lately…"
"But why is he wearing a helmet?"
"Why do you think? Either his face is completely messed up or he's ugly as sin. One or the other."
Various other noises could be heard, but I couldn't care less.
How many people lose money at a gambling table and throw a fit? It's not one or two.
The important thing was that I had won big on the underdog bet, and four copper coins had turned into nine silver coins.
Grinning broadly, I was counting the money in my hand when a man with a flushed, drunken face roughly pushed through the crowd and stumbled towards me.
"My money. Goddamn my money! Give me my money back! I won't accept this fraud!"
From his voice, I recognized him as the same guy who had been making a fuss earlier.
Indeed. The power of alcohol is truly remarkable. It grants the courage to stand up so boldly when everyone else is quiet.
"That idiot. He really did it."
"He's got some nerve. Of all places to make a scene…"
"The owner doesn't go easy on men…"
Ignoring the quiet whispers of the surrounding people, I smiled sweetly at the stumbling drunk man and offered a kind word.
"What are you going to do if you don't accept it? If you had won the money, would you be making a scene in front of me like this? You'd just have ordered more drinks, claiming you won a paltry sum. Look at the others. They accept the result and immediately let go of their regrets. If you're plastered, stop making a fool of yourself and just go to sleep quietly."
Perhaps my kind smile wasn't visible because of the helmet, or perhaps he was touched by my warm advice.
The man's face flushed red and then paled. He seemed to be able to hear, even if his head was spinning from the alcohol.
"You bastard—!"
"Stop."
A chill permeated the air.
In the tense situation where the man had raised his fist, a single word was uttered, and the temperature in the inn plummeted.
It wasn't just a figure of speech; the temperature truly plummeted.
My skin tingled, and my breath misted. The sudden cold made my skin feel like it was freezing.
"Unilateral fighting is forbidden in my inn."
Click. Clack.
In the silent inn, only one person moved.
The woman, Diana, approached with the sound of her shoes, slowly opened her tightly closed slit-like eyes, and placed a hand on the drunk man's shoulder.
"Understood?"
"Y-yes… yes…"
The drunk man, as if he had never been drunk, turned pale and nodded repeatedly, unable to utter a single word.
"Hehe. You're a good boy. I'm glad you understood."
The inn's temperature, which had suddenly turned frigid, gradually began to return to normal. Diana's eyes closed once more.
The drunk man scrambled out of the inn, and the people who had been laughing at the sight immediately resumed their cheerful drinking and chatting, as if the mood had never been ruined.
"Hahaha! Look at that guy running away with his tail between his legs! He should know better than to cause trouble here!"
"Today's been particularly entertaining. Gregor getting absolutely crushed in arm-wrestling, and even a glimpse of Diana! Ugh!"
Some of the stronger-looking individuals made such remarks.
A glimpse of Diana, huh.
Indeed, when I first met her, she didn't even flinch when I pointed an axe at her.
I thought she wasn't normal back then, but seeing people's reactions, she seemed to be even more than that.
"Are you alright? It seems a lot happened while I went to get water."
"It wasn't that big of a deal."
"That's good then… Ah. Here's your water."
Diana poured water into a cup. I lifted my helmet just enough to drink. Then, I carefully drank the water and thought.
'Should I… take a look?'
Just before arm-wrestling with Gregor, when I looked directly at her, her status window had appeared.
This meant that the status window functioned not only for me but for others as well.
Diana was right in front of me, so I quietly looked at her and summoned the status window.
I was curious. How strong could she possibly be to freeze the surroundings with just a word?
I expected a 'ding!' sound to chime, and her status window with her information would appear, just like when I looked at Gregor.
However, a slightly different message appeared.
"Pwoooosh!"
"Kyaah?!"
Seeing the content displayed in the status window, I was momentarily flustered and spat water out of my mouth.
And it landed on none other than Diana.
"Cough, cough, cough…! I-I'm so sorry!"
"……"
Diana looked down at her drenched gray dress, bewildered.
As the front of her already tight dress became completely soaked, the embroidery of her bra, struggling to contain her ample bosom, and even her soft navel, became fully visible.
Witnessing that dizzying sight, my mind went blank for a moment, and I made a choice that defied all common sense.
I frantically grabbed a nearby towel, wrapped it around my hand, and firmly pressed down and rubbed her chest.
At first, I only thought, 'I need to wipe that water first,' but only after my hand made contact with her chest did the thought, 'Is this perhaps dangerous?' follow.
However, the situation had already unfolded.
The rough towel, and beyond it, the firm grip of my thick, strong fingers, pressed down on her wet, highly sensitive chest.
"Ungh-heeehh?!"
Diana, who had been stiff and dazed for a long time after being hit by the water spray, finally snapped out of it, trembling all over at the sudden, immense stimulation.
Her tightly closed slit-like eyes opened slightly.
It was an incredible vibration. My hand, pressing against her chest, trembled noticeably.
My hand, losing its way in the unfamiliar tremor, instinctively tightened, gripping Diana's chest even harder.
I even felt something firm between her soft, ample breasts. My thumb slipped for a moment, and I ended up twisting and pressing down hard on it.
"Hooohk?!"
This wasn't a weak, prolonged tremor like before. Her body twitched violently, as if exploding all at once.
At the same time, her previously half-closed pupils fully dilated, and her beautiful amber eyes trembled.
Immediately after, Diana swayed as if all strength had drained from her waist and legs, then collapsed onto a table chair as if falling into it.
https://images.novelpia.com/imagebox/99/99a9e18b3c90267ad2719c85dd368a27_1013037_1715857538_ori.file
"Hoooh, huh, hooohh…"
"M-Ms. Diana? Are you alright?"
As I carefully reached out my arm to support Diana, whose face and neck were flushed red and who was breathing heavily.
Slap!
She immediately pushed my hand away, wrapped her arms around the tips of her voluminous breasts, and bowed her head deeply.
"Hoooh, huh… S-sorry…? M-my body suddenly feels a bit unwell. I guess I'll have to close for the day…! G-go up and rest quickly…!"
Diana urgently blurted out those words and ran away, as if fleeing, towards the first-floor kitchen.
I stared blankly at her retreating figure, then slumped into the table chair.
[The gap with the target is too overwhelming.]
[Summoning the Status Window in a limited capacity.]
"I'm screwed…"
[Di███ █████ lv.7█]
[██ █████ possesses ██ Blessings and Curses: 6]
Considering the filtering, she was in the level 70s. The first digit of her level was a staggering 7.
I had made a huge mistake with an opponent overwhelmingly stronger than me.
Still, honestly, I had no regrets.
***
The people who had filled the inn had long since vanished like the receding tide, right after witnessing Diana getting hit by the water Nam Su-jin had spat.
However, two individuals remained in the inn who hadn't left yet.
One was Nam Su-jin, and the other was Gregor.
Gregor, whose spirit had been crushed by the humiliation of being utterly dominated by a male after trying to impress him.
Watching the commotion Nam Su-jin caused from a prime seat, she quietly uttered a single sentence.
"Just mate, both of you…"
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