Luki stared at the small mirror in his hand in absolute, soul-crushing astonishnt. He gaped at the reflection, completely unable to recognize the man looking back at him.
Waking up in this world as a tall, handso young elf had already been a shock to his system, but now? Now he had crossed a boundary into pure, unadulterated absurdity. He had essentially morphed into a high-tier MMORPG character born from soone slamming their hand onto a completely randomized customization screen.
First, there was his hair. Once a cascading waterfall of golden, blonde strands, it had transford into a vibrant, sky-blue mane streaked with darker, midnight-blue highlights. It practically shimred with a soft glow despite lacking a single drop of hair oil. The worst, most infuriating part about it was that the multi-tonal disaster looked completely natural right down to the roots, styled in true, gravity-defying Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist fashion.
His eyes were the second catastrophic change. The striking, noticeable green eyes he had grown used to were gone. In their place were two deep, sapphire-blue irises, each housing a glowing, golden cross-star right in the center, looking like a high-budget idol character plucked straight out of Oshi no Ko.
It wasn't even biologically possible!
But wait, there's more! Luki's gaze drifted upward, and his heart skipped a beat.
There was another eye. A literal, extra eye sitting dead center on his forehead. It blinked in perfect sync with the other two, its pupil darting from side to side as if existing there was the most mundane thing in the world. At the very least, it wasn't a vertical slit like those creepy, immortal-cultivation web novels. No, it was perfectly horizontal, a flawless, real-life replica of Hiei's Jagan eye from Yu Yu Hakusho.
And you think it's over? Oh, how painfully naive.
His ears. Oh, god, his ears... They had turned into fucking wings! It wasn't like they had simply grown larger or sprouted a few decorative feathers, no, that would have been tolerable. They had completely replaced his ears.
They were genuine, functional avian wings covered in soft, baby-blue and pristine white feathers that felt like compressed cotton to the touch. And they flapped! Whenever he panicked, his goddamn ear-wings fluttered!
'There wasn't even a visible ear canal on then or anywhere. How in the absolute hell can I still hear?!'
— What is this? Hestia, what happened to ?! — Luki stamred, his third eye darting wildly as he stared down at her.
Both of them were now standing in the center of the tent. Hestia flinched, her voice laced with anxious uncertainty.
— I-I don't know, Luki! — she murmured, desperately trying to sound calm.
— You already had the blue hair and those tiny wings when we updated your Falna, rember?! At least the giant wing on your back disappeared after the fight. But that eye... it just sprouted in the middle of your forehead during the night while no one was looking!
— But... but... — Luki opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat.
He tightly squeezed his two main eyes shut. The world didn't go dark. Instead, he was t with a perfectly clear, wide-angle view of the tent from his forehead.
Luki raised his index finger to poke the strange organ, but his biological defenses kicked in, the eyelid slamd shut in a panicked reflex.
Behind the thin skin, he could feel the slick, round contour of the eyeball rolling upward and twitching nervously against the inner lid.
— And now what?! Am I supposed to walk out there looking like this?!
Hestia offered a weak, forced smile, waving her hands. — Oh, co on! It's really not that bad! You look very... unique! Like a mythical prince!
— NOT THAT BAD?! — Luki bellowed in a high pitch of absolute despair. — Hestia, I look like a ridiculous, over-designed Demon King from a cheap children's story!
— And this blue hair?! — He aggressively grabbed a handful of his sky-blue locks. — What would my mother say if she saw ?! I'm a walking circus attraction!
Hestia blinked, completely taken aback by his explosive rant. She stared at him with wide eyes, carefully analyzing his panicked expression and the frantic way he was tugging at his hair. She expected to see deep horror, body dysmorphia, or psychological trauma from having his humanity warped.
But as she looked closer, she realized sothing was missing. There was no actual dread or disgust in his gaze. Just pure, unadulterated annoyance.
— Wait, Luki... Are you... are you actually feeling bad because of all this? Is it making you miserable? — Hestia started, her tone shifting into a hesitant, softer whisper.
Luki paused. He let go of his hair, his posture instantly slumping as his voice dropped back down to a completely flat, mundane conversational tone.
— Huh? No, not really, — he said, waving a hand dismissively as if they were discussing the weather.
— I an, physically speaking, I just grew a few extra functional limbs and got a free, multi-tonal dye job. It doesn't hurt and it's not a big deal. But that doesn't an it doesn't look absolutely ridiculous.
Hestia stood there, her mouth hanging slightly open as the realization finally hit her. He wasn't suffering from an identity crisis or losing his mind over his bizarre, non-human transformation. He was just deeply, deeply unsatisfied with how over-designed and tacky he looked.
A massive, heavy sigh of absolute relief escaped her lips, her shoulders dropping as a warm, genuine smile spread across her face. Jappy and a little amused that he had accepted his new, fantastical reality with such casual ease.
— You really are a piece of work, Luki. Making worry over absolutely nothing. — Hestia huffed, crossing her arms with a pout.
Luki raised an eyebrow, tossing the small mirror carelessly onto the unmade bed. He began walking toward her, his ankle-wings giving a soft, involuntary flutter with each step.
— What? Did you honestly think I'd lose my mind over so extra parts?
— Honestly? Yes, but it seems I subestimated you.
As he reached her, their bodies moved together, naturally lting into a warm embrace. She rested her cheek against his chest, a satisfied, peaceful smile spreading across her face while Luki's fingers gently woven through her hair, now styled in her iconic two side ponytails.
Luki chuckled, the vibration rumbling against her ear. — This is nothing, compared to dating a literal goddess and killing a dragon, growing a third eye and so feathers is barely anything.
Hestia let out a soft giggle. She pulled back just an inch, shifting her weight as she pushed herself up onto the very tips of her toes, puckering her lips for a kiss.
But she couldn't reach. Even with her best effort, Luki's elven height made the distance comically impossible for the petite goddess.
Without cracking a joke or teasing her, Luki simply smiled. He leaned down, bridging the gap between them, and softly sealed their lips together.
— Mmh... Smack. — The sweet, lingering sound of the kiss echoed in the quiet tent.
Hestia stepped back down, her cheeks slightly pink as she gently patted his chest.
— Alright, smart guy. Go get dressed. The others are waiting.
— Got it, — Luki replied, turning around.
A few hours had already passed since the chaotic reunion with the whole crowd. After Miach conducted a thorough dical examination and confird that Luki was in flawless physical condition, everyone had graciously given the couple so space.
Before leaving, Captain Finn had extended a final, formal invitation for them to have lunch together in the town of Rivira. Luki had accepted without a second thought; after months of surviving on raw monster at, he was dying to eat sothing genuinely worthy of a human being, or a elf... or whatever shit he is now.
Luki walked over to a large canvas sack resting in the corner of the tent. Opening it, he found a few changes of his own clothes, though strangely, a couple of Hestia's dresses were tangled up in the mix as well.
Deciding it was better not to question the logistics of why his clothes were in her wardrobe, he simply grabbed the first outfit he recognized and began to change.
As he pulled his pants, Hestia leaned against a wooden crate, watching him with a shaless, teasing grin. — Ooh~, Mommy likes what she sees.
Luki let out a hearty laugh, shaking his head as he fastened his belt. — Please, Hestia. You've already seen everything there is to see anyway. No need for the catcalling.
Truth be told, Luki had completely blacked out naked at the very end of his brutal fight against the dragon, the mont his body could no longer sustain that overclocked blue energy. Yet, he had woken up today completely clean, washed, and wearing a fresh set of undergarnts.
He didn't even need a single second of deep thought to know exactly who had taken care of his unconscious, battered body for the past three days.
Luki grabbed his shirt and slipped his arms through the sleeves. As the fabric settled over his shoulders, a sudden, bizarre sense of déjà vu washed over him.
He paused, staring down at the cloth. It felt incredibly familiar, as if he had distinctly seen Hestia wearing this exact shirt before.
'No, that's impossible. Why would she wear my clothes?' He thought, shaking his head.
Bringing the collar close to his nose, he took a subtle sniff. The unmistakable, sweet, and comforting scent of her natural scent clung heavily to the fibers.
Just as he opened his mouth, about to comnt on it and question her-
— Co on, slowpoke! Move those tiny ankle-wings of yours, we're going to be late! — Hestia suddenly popped up right beside him, clapping her hands and aggressively pushing him toward the tent exit, completely cutting off his train of thought.
— Okay, okay, I get it! I can walk on my own! — Luki laughed, raising his hands in defeat as Hestia kept nudging him forward.
They stepped through the canvas flap and out of the tent.
— Ngh... — Luki groaned, his hand instantly flying up to cover all three of his eyes as an aggressive light assaulted his senses, unaccustod to such brightness after days of sleeping in the dark.
Slowly, his vision adjusted, blinking away the stinging white haze. When he finally opened his eyes, the sight waiting for him was absolutely breathtaking.
They were standing on the 18th Floor, the legendary Under Resort. Before him stretched a vast, subterranean paradise. Countless tents and makeshift camps were scattered across the sprawling landscape, bustling with hundreds of people going about their daily routines.
But the most magnificent feature was the ceiling far above. A colossal, radiant crystal embedded in the rock pulsed with a warm, brilliant luminescence, acting as a literal artificial sun deep beneath the earth.
— Wow... — Luki breathed out, his sky-blue hair catching the crystal light as he looked around with pure, childish excitent.
— Beautiful, isn't it? — Hestia smiled warmly, gently taking his hand in hers and guiding him down the dirt path.
— I've never seen anything like this, — Luki said, his voice laced with awe. — It's just... incredible. Is this really inside the Dungeon?
He already knew the answer, of course. Having watched the ani in his past life, he knew exactly what the 18th Floor was supposed to look like. But experiencing it in first person was a completely different story. The reality of it blew the screen right out of the water.
Hestia let out a soft, lodious giggle, sothing she had been making a lot since they reunited, as if she were overflowing with pure happiness.
— I thought the exact sa thing when I first arrived. To think that a place as terrifying as the Dungeon could hide a paradise like this... it honestly makes you want to pack your bags and go on vacation here.
— I can't argue with that. — Luki agreed with a grin, and the two continued walking in a comfortable silence.
As they moved through the bustling camp, they passed groups of diverse adventurers. A large transport team was currently loading heavy wooden crates into massive carriages drawn by strange, bulky, ox-like animals.
But as they walked by, Luki noticed a distinct shift in the air.
Every single person was subtly staring at him with looks of deep uncertainty and sheer curiosity. Luki noticed the heavy stares, but he simply didn't care; he was too busy taking everything in.
— I've never seen so many people in the Dungeon at once. — Luki comnted softly.
Before this disastrous latest adventure, Luki had been nothing more than a normal, lonely Level 1 rookie. He had always preferred entering the Dungeon during the least crowded hours to avoid trouble, and he had never had the luck, or misfortune, to run into other parties. His only real encounter had been Liliruca Arde, a very welco twist of fate that changed his solitary routine.
— It was actually much more crowded a few weeks ago, — Hestia noted, her tone dipping into a slightly somber note.
— But as ti passed, most of the secondary Familias began to pack up and leave. They thought that... well... — She trailed off, stopping her steps to look up at Luki with a soft, cautious gaze full of hidden worry.
Luki offered her a reassuring, calm smile, completing her sentence. — They thought I was already dead?
— Not quite, — Hestia replied softly, her grip tightening on his hand. — We gods can always feel the Falna of our children, so there was no doubt that you were alive... at least, for . And I couldn't selfishly demand them to risk their lives and stay down here forever when they had nothing to do with this ss.
— I understand, I'd probably do the sa in their shoes. Family always cos first.
— Yeah... — Hestia murmured softly, her eyes locked onto his face, swimming with an overwhelming devotion.
Eventually, they reached the outskirts of a small, rustic settlent surrounded by thick, sturdy wooden palisades.
Hestia stepped forward and exchanged a few brief words with the armored guards stationed at the gate, who imdiately waved them through without a single question. Luki barely paid attention to the interaction, his focus entirely consud by the town.
They had finally entered Rivira.
The town was built directly into the side of a massive rock cliff, looking like a cramped cluster of wooden shacks and stone huts. Everything was made from whatever materials could be found or brought down from the surface. Unlike the clean stone buildings of Orario, Rivira was rough, sowhat dirty, and purely functional, a makeshift settlent built by adventurers to survive inside the Dungeon.
— Do you know where it is, Hestia? — Luki asked, looking down at her as they walked through the narrow streets.
— Finn said it's an inn called the Beautiful Lady, but I have no idea where it actually is. — Hestia replied, scanning the wooden houses.
Instead of rushing, the two simply continued wandering hand in hand through the makeshift town. It felt almost like a simple, quiet date, using their lack of directions as the perfect excuse to prolong their ti together.
At one point, Luki tried asking a couple of passing adventurers for directions. However, the responses were so remarkably rude and hostile that he and Hestia decided it wasn't worth the trouble and simply ignored it.
Eventually, realizing they had probably kept the captain waiting for too long, Luki decided to take matters into his own hands.
He stopped, closed his eyes, and concentrated, focusing deeply on his mysterious sixth sense. Instantly, his radius of perception expanded, stretching from a few ters around his body to encompass the entire town.
It seed this sensory ability hadn't vanished after his fight with the dragon; it was just resting in the background, requiring a conscious effort to focus, much like squinting your eyes to see sothing far away.
— They're this way. — Luki said, opening his eyes and gently tugging Hestia's hand.
A few streets later, they arrived at the establishnt. Stepping inside, Luki imdiately noticed that the interior of the inn was surprisingly well-maintained, boasting a much higher quality of craftsmanship and cleanliness compared to the rough shacks outside.
— Hey! Over here! — A loud, cheerful female voice called out.
Both of them looked toward the sound and spotted one of the Amazon sisters from the Loki Familia, waving her arm enthusiastically to get their attention.
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