VIP Chapter 322: New Glasses
Posinota Town.
Unaware that in nearby Novis, the three people who loved him had secretly formed an alliance and were about to open the “Quest System” containing his entire life, Will woke up early and faced the mirror in front of the washbasin.
“…Let’s take a look at the experiment’s effects.”
Standing here, it was one of the rare times Will didn’t need to wear his cloak that covered his entire face.
After brushing his teeth, he very carefully placed his finger at the corner of his mouth and slowly pulled it aside.
As he did this, he thought about how Iaar’s tooth-pulling technique had been quite good. This tooth was one in front of a wisdom tooth, not shallow at all, and might have been difficult even for a dentist.
In order to see the tooth’s location in the mirror, he tilted his head, repeatedly adjusting his position in the reflection.
Where Iaar had previously extracted the tooth, in the dim light, a new tooth, clearly different from the old ones on either side, was already visible, covered by new growth.
Will lowered his hand, his expression becoming serious. He wrote on a piece of paper dampened with water by the sink.
“10,000 Xi, took three hours. Tooth… the growth cycle of a tooth is generally two to six months… It’s a pity it hurt too much, so I couldn’t try a second time.”
And the paper wasn’t just about “teeth.”
From fingernails to hair, even the skin on his fingers, everything that could be shed and regenerated seemed to have been experimented on.
The paper, with its ink bleeding, was densely covered.
“It seems… the idea is correct. If I have to use it, it’s not impossible… Hmm…”
Will, staring at the mirror, suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
He looked up again, gazing at his reflection.
He had been here for two days, and severe lack of sleep had made his face appear haggard.
“Was I a bit sleep-deprived last night…?”
As for why he was sleep-deprived, it was simple.
“Can’t be helped, there isn’t much time left.”
His fingers rested on the cold edge of the washbasin as he watched the dirty water mixed with toothpaste and face wash swirling down the drain.
The basin didn’t seem to drain well, the water flowed down slowly, but the vortex it formed was unusually large.
Although there was no “concrete evidence,” on his first night in the city that was the end of his “fate,” he felt a strong sense of death “approaching.”
The “entrance” to the dungeon, built like the Egyptian pyramids from his previous world, stared at him directly, like some kind of death spell.
It was both a curse and a temptation.
Luring him to walk inside, yet cursing him to be buried there.
The scenes of “death” that had played out countless times in his dreams seemed about to become reality.
Will splashed cold water on his face and tried to widen his eyes, which were circled by dark circles, before finally sobering up a bit.
However, the closer he got to “death,” the braver Will felt.
“It should be soon. Shuna is going to that dungeon herself today, so we’ll know what’s strange about the first floor.”
He rubbed his eyes, which were watering from the cold water, and then reached out to where he usually kept his glasses, intending to put on his monocle.
With one eye clear and the other still nearsighted, it became even more troublesome.
Without wearing his monocle, the world he saw was completely out of focus, making him very uncomfortable.
Even when both his eyes were nearsighted before, he could occasionally take off his glasses and walk around, but now he dared not do so.
But…
He didn’t touch his monocle, but instead felt something cool, exceptionally smooth, with slight calluses on the knuckles where he often held weapons.
“Shuna…?”
“It’s me. Hmm… Someone promised me they would rest well today and sleep soundly, waiting for my news. Now it looks like you not only woke up early but are exceptionally tired. What’s going on?”
Will wiped his left eye and opened it while squinting his right.
In the dimly lit room, Shuna stood before him, unable to judge distance with her single eye.
“Never mind. I’m back from the Dust Bone Corridor, and I brought you a gift.”
“A gift…?”
As Will uttered this question in confusion, he saw Shuna, unable to discern distance, reach out to him, holding a round object, and place it on his…
Right eye. He felt a slight weight on his nose bridge.
“Unhum, this looks good.”
She reached out again, went around his ear, and looped the metal cord that secured the monocle around the back of his head.
“Is… a new pair of glasses? Speaking of which… I think the pair I left at home before was also bought with you…”
He lowered his head slightly, opening both eyes. The prescription was the same as his old monocle, and his vision was the same as when he wore his previous glasses.
“Yes. I am magnanimous, and I will overlook the fact that you don’t know where you lost it.”
“I actually kept it in my bag all along. It’s just that I couldn’t see when I wore it.”
“Oh? Then… you cherish it quite a bit.”
As Shuna said this, a hint of relief seemed to flash across her expression.
“How is it? I chose it especially for you.”
He turned his head and looked at the mirror beside him.
These glasses were much newer than the antique ones he had found at home before. They were also gold-rimmed, shimmering in the light.
“Hmm, turn around!”
Shuna also seemed to want to fully appreciate the glasses she had chosen, so she reached out and turned his head, pinching his cheeks.
Her fingers were a little cold, and he could even feel a slight dusty scent from the Dust Bone Corridor on her fingertips.
“Not bad. As I thought, when choosing, I imagined your deep blue eyes would look particularly striking within the gold frame.”
“Really…?”
Will looked down, Shuna’s dark pupils staring intently at him, with utmost seriousness.
“Of course. Like… looking at the starry sky through a telescope. Remember? The bookmark you gave me looked like stars and the galaxy too.”
“…”
“You’re blushing. Hmm… your skin does feel a bit hot, especially around your ears.”
“S-sorry, it’s probably the first time… someone has complimented how I look with glasses like this. After all, when I think about it, wearing glasses here seems to be more inconvenient.”
Shuna tilted her head.
“You said before that in the predetermined ‘story,’ you are the villain. How about it? Doesn’t this make you look like a… suave scoundrel?”
“Could you find better adjectives?”
“Hmm… you, who would go mad and seek death if four girls didn’t have you… aren’t you a scoundrel?”
“…It seems hard to deny.”
Will sighed.
He had long since given up on “explaining that he wasn’t a pervert” and had instead accepted that “it’s fine for the outside world to think so.”
Although, due to the inherited nearsightedness of the Hysterm Family, he had never been without glasses since childhood, he had never considered himself like the stereotypical “suave scoundrel” intellectual villain, perhaps because the ending of being smashed to death by a slime in the story was too deeply ingrained.
But now…
Looking at himself in the mirror like this, his aura had certainly changed.
“Thank you, you chose very well. Oh wait, but you said four girls just now, so you’re even counting yourself among them…”
“Ah… I can’t hear you, can’t hear you! Did I say that just now?”
Shuna stopped speaking, suddenly remembering something.
“Oh right, I forgot. These glasses have a very important function. Let’s go try them out while exchanging information.”
