Chapter 149: Tangle With The Merman

His first thought was that someone had stolen Sora’s luminous pearl.

He surfaced quickly.

But what he saw made him freeze.

Sora was sitting nearby, using a piece of beast-skin cloth to wipe her face.

Ryan stared.

At first, he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

Her large eyes seemed to become smaller.

Her narrow cheeks seemed to disappear.

Her face appeared wider.

The transformation happened right before his eyes.

Ryan’s aquamarine eyes widened.

What... is this?

He had seen Sora’s face before.

But the woman standing before him now looked completely different from the beautiful female everyone had admired during the festival.

Ryan stared in astonishment.

How did she do that?

What was the strange substance she had put on her face?

And what was that shining object beside her?

Had Sora secretly invented something else?

Ryan’s curiosity immediately returned.

He had already suspected that Sora knew far more than she revealed.

Now he had another mystery to investigate.

Meanwhile, Sora remained completely unaware that Ryan was watching.

She was too focused on removing the last traces of makeup.

Eventually, the cloth in her hand became dirty.

She instinctively dipped it into the water to rinse it.

But her fingers slipped.

The cloth floated away.

"Oh!"

Sora immediately reached for it.

She moved through the water, following the cloth as it drifted toward the edge.

When it finally stopped, she leaned forward to retrieve it.

But she didn’t notice something directly beneath the surface.

Her hand brushed against something soft.

Before she could figure out what it was, a powerful fish tail suddenly swept through the water.

Sora startled.

The unexpected movement threw her off balance.

She stumbled forward.

At that exact moment, Ryan surfaced.

The two of them collided.

Their faces came together, and their lips briefly met.

Sora froze.

Ryan froze too.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Sora’s eyes widened.

Ryan?!

Her heart nearly stopped.

Why did she always encounter this man in the water?

And why did every encounter somehow turn into an unexpected accident?

She had been absolutely certain that the hot spring was empty.

She hadn’t even used her abilities to scout the area because she had been too lazy to boil water herself.

Now she had paid the price.

It’s over.

Her first thought wasn’t even about the awkwardness.

It was about the system.

My strategy points!

Had her affection and attraction values dropped again?

Would everything she had worked for over the past few days disappear?

Would they return to their original levels?

Sora’s mind raced.

She had finally managed to make progress with Ryan.

She couldn’t afford to lose it because of an accidental collision.

Then another realization struck her.

She was still in the water with only the spring and a few shadows providing cover.

The situation was extremely embarrassing.

Sora instinctively tried to create some distance.

But before she could recover completely, she felt Ryan’s warm breath near her lips.

She froze again.

The brief contact had left an unfamiliar sensation behind.

It wasn’t painful.

It was simply strange.

A faint tingling sensation seemed to spread from her lips through her body, making her face warm.

Ryan appeared equally stunned.

His aquamarine eyes were wide with confusion.

He had initially intended to push away immediately.

But the sensation had surprised him.

Sora’s lips had felt unexpectedly soft.

The unfamiliar sensation left him momentarily unable to understand his own reaction.

Why were female lips different from those of beastmen?

Why did such a brief contact feel so strange?

Ryan instinctively leaned slightly closer before catching himself.

Sora noticed the movement immediately.

Her heart jumped.

No, no, no.

They were getting too close.

Just moments ago, there had been some distance between them.

Now that distance was disappearing.

Sora hurriedly stepped backward.

She needed to separate from Ryan before the situation became even more awkward.

Unfortunately, she failed to notice the rocks behind her.

Her foot struck one.

She lost her balance.

The water pushed her backward, and she ended up much closer to Ryan than before.

Ryan’s silver-blue fish tail moved instinctively through the water, brushing around her legs as he tried to steady himself.

Sora’s face turned bright red.

This is bad.

This is really bad.

If Ryan became uncomfortable and his affection dropped, all her previous effort could be wasted.

She immediately regretted choosing the hot spring.

Why didn’t I just boil water?

She had firewood.

She had everything she needed.

But because she had been lazy, she had chosen the convenient option.

Now she was paying for it.

Sora closed her eyes.

She didn’t even dare check the system.

Then—

Ding!

The familiar mechanical voice suddenly sounded.

"Congratulations, Host."

Sora’s heart tightened.

She prepared herself for the worst.

But the next words left her completely stunned.

"Ryan’s affection value has reached 88."

Sora’s eyes flew open.

"What?"

The system continued.

"Ryan’s attraction value has reached 75."

Sora stared blankly.

For several seconds, she couldn’t process what she had heard.

Eighty-eight?

Seventy-five?

Those numbers hadn’t decreased.

They had increased!

Her eyes widened.

"Are you sure?"

The system remained silent.

Sora’s mind immediately began racing.

Could this be a malfunction?

How could an accidental collision possibly increase Ryan’s values?

She looked suspiciously at him.

Ryan seemed just as confused.

His expression was no longer as cold as before.

He appeared to be trying to understand the strange sensations he had experienced.

Sora suddenly became thoughtful.

Could Ryan’s values have increased because of the unexpected physical closeness?

That possibility seemed ridiculous.

She had always assumed Ryan was primarily attracted to intelligence and high technology.

He was supposed to be the most difficult target.

He wasn’t supposed to react so strongly to something as simple as this.

Could he really be that... superficial?

Sora stared at him suspiciously.

She couldn’t believe it.

The man who had always been so critical and analytical had just experienced the biggest increase in affection and attraction yet.

And she hadn’t even tried to strategize.

It had happened completely by accident.

Sora’s expression became complicated.

She suddenly wasn’t sure whether tomorrow’s carefully planned date would be more effective than the accident that had just happened.

For the first time, she wondered if Ryan’s feelings toward her were changing in a way neither of them fully understood.