Chapter 430 part 1

Day 99 – Nighttime, White Weirdo Inn

Alongside the plan to repurpose the rosary into a throwing weapon and pairing it with the 『Barrier Hair Ornament』for quick barrier deployment, I’d also tried to exploit a bit of consumer psychology, that urge to want more once you’ve got one, and I distributed sample hair accessories as rewards(trap), but it unexpectedly backfired.

Each piece was semi-custom made, and I handed them out face-to-face over a table, so I thought the situation was safe enough to let my guard down. But the girls, without hesitation, ditched their armor entirely, unleashing their wild, unrestrained selves in tight spats like predators released into the wild!

Moreover, due to popular demand, a coin-operated steam mist machine had been installed in the cafeteria. The floral mist, praised for its 『Purification』, 『Cleanse』, and 『Deodoration』effects, was a hit and brought in steady pocket change… So naturally, the girls in tight spats underwent an evolution into the girls in clingy wet tight spats, so I was met with an ambush with a tripled danger level!

But the tragedy didn’t stop there. The newly upgraded innerwear had been redesigned with a wide-open back to offset the reduced breathability of the armor. The fabric was also looser in weave to improve ventilation. As a result, when they got wet, the material shrank even more, amplifying its original 『tight』properties to the point that it looked more like body paint. Thus, I was helplessly swallowed into a bouncing, squishy ocean of densely packed bodies, under the guise of a 『Thank you』, until I lost consciousness.

「Yeah, it was seriously too much! I mean, since no one’s discovered any resistance to 『Squish effects』 or 『Boing-Boing overload』 it was literally an unstoppable storm of violence! No Healthy Highschool Boy could survive that unscathed, okay?」

When I woke up, it sort of didn’t feel like my clothes weren’t neatly re-dressed, so maybe they fixed me up after things got a little disheveled? Yeah, that must be it… There wasn’t any accidental discharge, right?!

I steady my breath, calm my spirit, focus on the flow of energy within my body, and begin circulating it, mixing in mana and skills to mold it into one with my body, harmonizing everything as one, blood, flesh, bones, nerves, nails, teeth, hair, everything. Gentle ripples spread across the bathwater, creating soft waves. As I relax in the water I feel a strange sensation, somewhat different from 『Regeneration』, and more as if the entire body is being rebuilt into something else.

「Seeking solace in a bath isn’t wrong, but expecting modesty from girls is like trying to breathe shadows or carve dust, basically pointless, to be honest, at this point, starting sculpting with mist might be easier than to make girls act with more graceful and ladylike. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t try, but it’s also not very fun? So yeah, turns out it was the perfect metaphor for a hopeless task! Kind of?」

(Jiggle-Jiggle)

I sure got swallowed by the mood. I meant to get some training in, but once again got dragged into the bodypile. Tripping and bumping into things isn’t new, I’ve been doing that nonstop in the forest, but maybe I still shouldn’t push myself too hard just yet.

One of the foundational Qi circulation techniques is 『Small Heavenly Cycle』 which sends Qi flowing throughout the entire body. You open the qi channels, trace the meridians, connect the pathways, circulate and amplify the flow until it reaches every corner of your limbs, wrapping your whole body in qi. The bathwater ripples with each motion. Meaning, it’s unstable and leaking at the moment. I mean, when people talk about 『qi』 it’s not like you can actually see or feel it. I only have a shallow understanding of it from my chuuni phase. But since I can see and feel it now, it’s actually pretty easy. Plus, since it combines with mana and refines within me, it’s great for recovering HP and MP. A very convenient technique.

Still, until I can make this a natural part of my daily life, done unconsciously with my breathing rather than something I actively think about, I can’t say I’ve truly mastered it. If it doesn’t circulate and refine naturally, controlling it becomes more complex, placing too much strain on Wisdom, which would interfere with calculations, and stuff like Accelerated Thinking, skill management, and so on. Taking slow breaths, letting the flow gently spread through my body, circulating, expanding, becoming one with me, letting myself go with the current,I just relax, enjoying the bath. Well, I don’t really get how it works, but it’s probably good for my health?

(Jiggle-Jiggle)

I’m not sure if it’s my qi meridians, my channels, or even my nerves that got reforged, but the response is way too sharp, too peaky to handle. The moment I form a thought, my body starts moving it. That dissonance is probably what’s causing the confusion.

To be honest, I underestimated it. I thought as long as I have Wisdom’s processing ability, I’d be able to adjust right away. No matter how fast or strong my body became, I assumed『Wisdom』would gather the data and operate everything automatically. I didn’t even doubt it. But the reality was way different.『Wisdom』is in shambles, it can’t even start analyzing the incoming information. That’s because the transmission speed of the nerve fibers, the way for input and output of information, has changed altogether. So it can’t even get to trying to calculate, interpret, or apply the data because the basic unit of measurements itself have shifted.

Thus, calculations became impossible, Wisdom-san is in disarray, and I can’t even get a grasp for anything, so everything fell apart.

Well, while self disintegration is not triggering, but.I keep falling and tripping, so I still end up all covered in blood, and with multiple fractures, now from blunt trauma, so in a way not much has changed. But the injuries are at least external, not internal damage. So I guess this counts as healthy evolution. And most importantly, nothing got torn off and went flying! That alone is a relief. I mean, if something flew off toward the Armored Pres-san and others, I’d have to go and collect it, and that’s just awkward?

So, soaking in the bath, relaxing, I reflect and ponder, setting aside the girls with their tight spats for the moment… More urgently, I need to rethink the hidden rapier for self-defense. The issue is its lack of power. A rapier is, by design, a light, one-edged thrusting weapon meant for duels or self-defense. It’s compact and easy to carry, but honestly, a bit too weak. It was originally made to wound unarmored human targets. That’s why the girls had such a hard time in the dungeon. The estoc, the weapon it was modeled after, is a full-on two-handed thrusting sword designed to pierce through armor. It’s heavy-duty, called a Panzerstecher in German, which literally means 「armor piercer」. That was a real battlefield weapon. But it’s too bulky, long, and heavy to conceal in a staff. Still, considering the dangers out there, sticking with a low-power rapier meant to be used only against humans feels… unreliable. Sure, a rapier excels at incapacitating without killing, ideal for duels, but maybe that was too naive of me, thinking it’d be enough for self-defense in this world… Well, I’ll think more about it by tonight.