‘What is this?’

I was looking at myself in the mirror after taking a shower.

‘Who is this guy?’

The face I was seeing was completely unfamiliar.

No, what was more shocking was the appearance of that face.

Though it feels weird to say this myself...

‘…Isn’t he too handsome?’

Saying it out loud made me feel incredibly embarrassed, like someone narcissistic enough to wink at themselves in the mirror every day.

Yet despite that...

He was so handsome that it didn't seem out of place.

‘Dieting may have been like winning the lottery, but…’

This difference was too extreme.

My face had been swollen with fat.

But now all that fat was gone, my face was slender, and my features, which had once been vague, were clearly defined.

‘I didn’t know my nose was this high.’

As I examined my face in the mirror with astonishment, the reactions of people when I used Calorie Burn and returned from the Bottom flashed through my mind.

Especially Emily and Mary’s reactions.

While Raphne had caused a fuss, crying over my weight loss...

Emily and Mary seemed to avoid making eye contact with me.

Given how my face looked now, I could completely understand.

Honestly, even I felt a bit strange looking into my own eyes in the mirror.

‘...Okay, let's finish getting ready.’

Today, after a day of rest, we are finally going to challenge the Tower of Tarlos.

With that in mind, I wiped my body and changed my clothes.

‘What's going to happen when I return to the Academy?’

Even as I put on my clothes, I couldn't calm my nerves.

What came to mind was the situation after returning to the Academy.

Fat Ken disappears for a while and returns with a surprising appearance.

I was worried that I might not be allowed back in if my face had changed too much.

After getting ready, I went down to the first floor dining area of the lodging, where only Mary was sitting blankly at a familiar table.

Swinging her feet and staring out the window, Mary looked lost in thought.

She seemed to be the first to get ready and come down earlier than anyone else.

At the sound of the creaking wooden stairs as I descended, Mary looked in my direction.

“...Oh ...Uh.”

Seeing me, she widened her eyes in surprise, then quickly blushed and lowered her head slightly.

She softly touched her bangs.

“G-good morning, Ken.”

Then she looked up again and waved at me.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

"Although I slept a bit late because of Raphne's sniffles, I'm fine."

"...Haha, I'll have a talk with her."

She's still crying.

Since I lost weight, Raphne has often been tearful.

It seems like my sudden change in appearance both surprised and saddened her.

‘I'll make sure you eat a lot from now on! Let's get you back to the way you were!’

I recalled how she, nearly in tears, held my hand tightly and said those words.

But I'm sorry, I have no intention of gaining back the weight I lost.

Of course, if everyone around me preferred my chubbier appearance, I might consider maintaining it.

The issue, however, is my abilities.

Ken's abilities after losing weight are on par with Siegfried’s... no, possibly even with Raphne’s.

Even if we eliminate Raphne’s prophecy, the strength here is crucial given the unknown threats that may lie ahead.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"No, I was waiting to eat with you, Ken."

"...Not the others?"

"Oh, oh! Yes, the others! I misspoke."

Mary blushed as she hurriedly corrected herself.

Then she averted her eyes.

'...Something's definitely different.'

Mary used to blush often before I lost weight, but she never avoided making eye contact like this.

But now I understand.

The problem wasn't with Mary—it was with me.

It was my changed face.

To be honest, it was a bit troublesome to the point of feeling awkward.

Not just Mary but Emily also reacted similarly.

In Emily's case, though, instead of avoiding eye contact, she would often ramble and laugh awkwardly.

Then, when I looked away, she would stare at my face intently.

What made it more awkward was not just the changes in my close friends but also the reactions of the people around us.

"...Wow, look at him."

"Is he an adventurer?"

"...With that face? Nah, he must be a noble coming to request something."

I overheard people whispering.

Since it was still early in the morning, the first-floor dining area was relatively empty, with just a few people around.

Those present were mostly merchants with early business or adventurers.

Among them, two women who seemed to be adventurers were staring at me.

Feeling their gaze, I turned my head towards them, making eye contact with the two startled women.

One blushed and lowered her gaze, while the other shyly smiled and waved her hand slightly.

I nodded lightly and turned back to Mary.

To be honest, it’s quite overwhelming.

It’s not just women, even men stare at me for a long time.

Given that beautiful men and women should be quite common in this world.

Many people stop and stare as if they find my appearance incredibly fascinating.

"Um, Ken…"

"Yes?"

"What exactly happened in that trap?"

Mary, who had been hesitating with her head down, suddenly asked.

She was probably trying to break the awkward atmosphere, asking something she had been curious about.

"It was a week, right? For you to lose that much weight in such a short time, just what did you…"

As she spoke, Mary's expression grew darker.

"What kind of hardships did you face... Sob."

Then, she began to tear up.

"Oh, no! It wasn’t that hard!"

"I’m sorry... If only I had been a bit stronger, Ken, you would have taken me with you."

Teary-eyed, she spoke as if blaming herself.

But her thoughts were entirely off the mark.

The reason I left the team behind wasn’t because they were weak.

The biggest issue was the one-year time frame.

I had told Siegfried and Adrian, but she hadn’t realised that I spent a year in that trap.

I didn’t want to force the people who had followed me for my purpose to spend a year in such hell.

“It wasn’t because of any hardships.”

“Th-then what’s with your appearance…”

“Well, that’s because…”

How should I explain this?

Saying something like ‘Actually, I was on a diet for a year!’ would probably only make Mary cry even more.

Then a bright idea struck me.

“Well, actually, I have a skill that makes dieting really effective under certain conditions!”

“…A skill?”

“Yes! You’ve seen me lose weight before, right?”

Mary nodded slightly.

She must remember. During the Curse of the Grim Reaper incident, when I was revived from the brink of death, I had briefly lost some weight.

I decided to blur the lines by attributing it to the effects of Calorie Burn.

“…Ken, you’re kind.”

But despite my plausible explanation, Mary didn’t seem convinced, smiling gently.

It wasn’t a joyful smile but one that suggested she saw through me.

She then gently took my hand.

“…Just by looking at this hand, I can tell how much you went through.”

“M-Mary…”

She carefully lifted my hand with both of hers and brought it to her cheek.

I felt the soft, warm touch of her tear-streaked face.

Mary stayed like that for a moment, as if sensing the roughness of my hand from the year-long ordeal in the trap.

As if to comfort me, she gently caressed my hand.

With a soft smile, I patted her head with my other hand.

Mary, looking slightly surprised, returned my smile and gazed at me tenderly.

"Ken, be careful. Never leave my side!"

“Are you hurt anywhere? If you get injured, you must tell us!"

"Don't worry about the rear. I'll protect it no matter what."

"Hey, I’m actually kinda strong now, you know?"

Once everyone was ready, we re-entered the Tower.

The problem was, after I fell into that trap, their overprotectiveness became overwhelming.

Raphne clung tightly to my arm, growling and scanning the surroundings, while Emily kept watch on the opposite side.

And Mary, trailing behind us, scattered Frost as she went.

Our original positions when we first entered the Tower had changed, and we moved like this up to the 10th floor.

Instead, Siegfried guarded the front, and Adrian took the rear, both maintaining vigilance.

'...It’s my fault for alarming them, though.'

I remembered how I had gone to the extent of using Petrification to stop them from following me into a trap.

It was an incident from a year ago for me, but it had only happened a week ago for them.

It wasn't strange for them to be overprotective of me, who had suddenly fallen into a trap and barely come out alive.

'But I'm really strong now.'

I might even be ranked Class S if I measured my adventurer rank again.

I took the lead dealing with monsters that rushed at us, unlike before.

I defeated a large number of monsters, almost rivalling Raphne's tally.

But even seeing that, they still seemed uneasy.

And Emily scolded me for my thoughts.

"You might do something dangerous on your own again, so hold back!"

It was her response to me saying they didn't need to be so overprotective.

Well, I guess I brought this on myself...

With a mix of guilt and reassurance, we arrived at the 10th floor.

"…Let's see."

I unfolded the map to check our location on the 10th floor.

Fortunately, the path to our goal on this floor wasn't too difficult.

Including my increased stats, there were no monsters on this floor that could stop our party.

So, we smoothly arrived in front of our destination—an ancient door.

"There's so much greenery covering it."

Raphne murmured as she looked up at the tall wall in front of us.

The wall was obscured by vines and moss, making it difficult to see it as a door at first glance.

But there was definitely a gap in the centre of the wall and a hole for inserting something.

This was the only shortcut found by a user who first discovered the key and escaped from the [Bottom of Tarlos].

I asked Adrian to burn away all the greenery on the wall.

━Whoosh.

With a burst of flames and some acrid smoke, the stone door emerged.

The door was massive, around four metres tall.

I inserted the key, which we had managed to obtain with great difficulty, into the groove in the centre of the door.

━Rumble.

As the key fit into place, the massive stone door slowly opened with a grinding noise.

“How did you even find out about this?”

Emily asked with eyes wide in astonishment. I responded with an awkward laugh and avoided her gaze.

“Well, there’s... a source that knows all sorts of things."

I glossed over it, but she didn’t push further.

I guess where the information came from wasn’t that important.

“Shall we go in?”

“Will this take us straight to the 100th floor?”

Adrian asked as I turned my head to confirm the swirling magic vortex that appeared when the door opened. I nodded and addressed the group.

“Now we’re going to take down the boss of this tower.”

I surveyed the group, noticing their tense expressions, and spoke with a resolute face.

“If anything dangerous happens, signal immediately. Don’t hesitate, just run away.”

What we have to defeat now is the reason this tower was created.

The Ancient Dragon Tarlos from legends.

In [Epiris Academy], there were instances where you could reach Tarlos using this shortcut.

But there was never a battle.

That’s because Emily, who discovered Tarlos, immediately fled.

‘…No way we can beat that.’

With those thoughts displayed in text, Emily never approached Tarlos again.

That was why, systemically, this part of the tower couldn’t be conquered.

To conquer the tower, the Ancient Dragon had to be defeated, but in the game, Emily avoided the battle altogether.

And even if she did fight, she probably wouldn’t win.

But now, in reality, we can fight.

The problem is that we have never fought the Ancient Dragon before, so we know nothing about its combat patterns.

Still, I turned and walked towards the shortcut portal.

Even if our opponent is a legendary Ancient Dragon, there must be a way to defeat it.

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