The Man with Hypnotic Powers Doesn’t Hold Back the Second Time Around

Chapter 95 Alice, Overwhelming with Physical Strength (2)

After entering the gate, Alice suddenly changed into a swimsuit.

It was a sight that even the seasoned A-rank awakeners of Cheonhwa had never seen before.

‘What is this? If it were a gate that appeared in the deep sea, it might make sense, but why in a land dungeon…?’

‘Wow, look at the size. I never thought I’d see something like this in person.’

Wearing a swimsuit inside the gate, and that overwhelming physicality. It was definitely not something one would see in Korea.

Even the veteran awakeners were at a loss for words.

“You’re going to conquer the gate in that outfit? Alice, a gate isn’t a playground…”

“It’s because of my unique talent. I can’t help it. I feel sorry for borrowing Yu-jin’s outerwear since my clothes keep burning.”

“…So you’re saying your clothes burn and you decided to wear a swimsuit?”

“Yes! This is resistant to heat!”

However, Alice was calm.

Alice Littlewood, an awakened with flame magic abilities, had burned her clothes twice in front of Yu-jin.

…I won’t make such an embarrassing mistake anymore. If my clothes keep burning, I’ll just wear clothes that don’t burn!

So, ta-da! I came wearing a swimsuit!

Alice spun around once in her swimsuit. The jiggle of her flesh was an added bonus.

The awakeners expressed a mixture of admiration and astonishment.

“Wow. This is crazy.”

“The lady must be having a hard time.”

“…Ahem. Wait! Even if it’s heat-resistant, it’s still a swimsuit. Won’t it melt if exposed to high temperatures?”

“Right. Swimsuits aren’t particularly resistant to fire in the first place.”

Of course, the veterans present quickly pointed out the logical flaws. Wearing a swimsuit because your clothes burn? It’s still the same thing.

But Alice, a strong fighter in real battles, remained calm.

“I tested it, and it didn’t burn.”

It worked when I tried it. She countered without batting an eye.

“If that’s the case… No, still, does it have to be a swimsuit? It looks very unsuitable for combat.”

“The team leader is right. We have flame-resistant clothes at Cheonhwa. If you want, we can lend them to you.”

“Thick clothes don’t burn either, but they’d make me hot. I’d faint quickly.”

Additionally, why not wear thick clothes? My magic is of such high temperature that indirect heat alone can burn my clothes. Wearing thick clothes while using my magic would quickly cause heatstroke. I have no choice if I want to perform well.

The awakeners understood.

It was unconventional in many ways, but since she was a Westerner, they thought it was normal.

Ah, as an Oriental, our methods are different from theirs. It must be a standard in the West.

“Moreover, no matter how much Yu-jin is my friend, he’s still a man. I can’t get all sweaty in front of him.”

“If that’s the case…”

…It’s questionable if getting half-naked because sweating in front of a guy is embarrassing is correct, but anyway. In the end, they failed to stop Alice’s rampage.

Yu-jin, who had been silently cheering, frowned.

‘Really, I’m supposed to conquer the gate with Alice in a swimsuit? I can barely hold back my instincts!?’

Since the kiss with Shia yesterday, Yu-jin had been in a state of hypnosis suppression due to the side effects of ‘???’. Currently, he was just a hot-blooded young man.

But, his wife in a swimsuit in front of him?

Ah, I can’t hold back. Imagining the chairman in underwear wouldn’t help.

Moreover, it’s Alice. Unlike Shia, who gracefully overlooked these things, Alice had no idea about such things.

If I lose control in front of her?

It’s inevitable that her affection for me would plummet. ‘Have you been looking at me like that all this time? You pervert!’ and I’d probably get slapped. The bond we built as comrades would be shattered.

Reminding myself she’s still a very young girl, as on the first day, is now futile.

‘It’s hard to hold back, and losing control would be catastrophic…!!!’

Yu-jin turned pale.

He realized he was essentially in a checkmate situation.

And lastly, the main character of this chaos.

Alice, who turned dozens of A-rank awakeners upside down with just a swimsuit…

‘I don’t know what happened between Yu-jin and Shia yesterday, but… I won’t lose, Shia!’

She burned with determination alone.

I’ve even put on a swimsuit shamelessly.

No matter what happened between Yu-jin and Shia yesterday, I’ll make him forget it.

I’ll overwhelm with my physicality in a fight.

She imagined Shia would snicker if she knew.

* * *
This practice session went smoothly as well.

Although my trademark, hypnosis, was currently unusable…

This was just a C-rank gate.

With my increased abilities, I was now a solid mid-upper C-rank.

A katana alone was enough to break through.

“Alice! Flame those four Muris over there! Just burn their wings before they shoot their poison darts, and I’ll deliver the final blow.”

“Yes! Haa!”

-Whoosh. Boom!!!

“Wow! We did it!”

“…That was one shot.”

Even with only Alice, whose firepower was already at an A-rank level, standing firmly behind me, it was no surprise the monsters fell like autumn leaves.

Thanks to that, we advanced through the gate rapidly.

“Alice, you’re amazing. At this rate, you’ll really become an S-rank…”

-Grab. Squeeze.

“Yu-jin, it’s thanks to you protecting me! I wouldn’t have been able to fight well if I were alone, but I’m not scared with you here. As expected of a fellow Solipdan member!”

“…”

‘Seol Ha-yeon, Seol Ha-yeon, Seol Ha-yeon…’

While the gate conquest was smooth, it was also a life-and-death struggle on another front.

Isn’t it a situation where losing control would be disastrous?

And yet, Alice kept clinging to me at every opportunity.

Each time, I urgently dropped a strategic nuke into my mind.

Thanks to that, I felt like I was losing my sanity.

At this rate, I’ll lose control even in front of the chairman. Really.

-Crack.

“Then Alice, let’s finish this quickly!”

“Yu-jin, aren’t you rushing a bit too much?”

“I want to finish quickly so I can have Solip’s Eye drink with you!”

“…!! Okay!”

We decided to conquer the gate quickly, even if it meant taking some risks.

Unlike my usual meticulous pattern strategy, this time I just went for a brute force approach.

-Bam!!

“…!!!? Junior, are you alright?”

“I’m sturdy, so I’m fine!!”

“Oh my. Surprisingly tough.”

The effect was clear.

My clothes got a bit tattered, but the speed of our conquest increased significantly.

We advanced two to three times faster than before.

It didn’t take us even 20 minutes to reach the end of the gate.

“Whew. Thank you for your hard work today.”

“You’ve worked hard!”

“Good job, Junior. And you too, Alice.”

Feeling it was finally over, Alice and I high-fived.

The seniors who had been watching us suspiciously also softened their gazes.

They realized Alice wasn’t just wearing such clothes for fun.

-Murmur murmur.

“When she mentioned the swimsuit, it was a bit iffy. But she’s better than expected?”

“I talked to her during the break, and you can tell she really likes Korea. It’s cute.”

“Will she come to Cheonhwa? It’d be great to have such a friendly newcomer.”

“What about the lady?”

“Well, the match must have been unfavorable. How could she win against that?”

“Agreed. Junior’s reaction is different with her compared to the lady.”

The tone of their whispers as they glanced at us was filled with goodwill.

…Are these the same seniors who were racist before we started? Our wife managed to change even their minds. Amazing.

“Alice? Put your clothes back on. Now that the practice is over, why don’t you come with us for a meal?”

At the same time, the announcement of the end of practice was made. A bag of clothes was handed to Alice. These were the clothes she had left with the seniors earlier.

And our wife…

“Oh, I’m sorry~ Actually, I have plans with Yu-jin.”

“…What?”

“Right, Yu-jin?”

A sudden fabrication.

What is this? Did I have any plans with Alice? No. Apart from suggesting we go to the swimming pool together last time, there was nothing. That wasn’t even set in stone, more like a ‘let’s have a meal sometime’ kind of promise.

‘Still, should I play along?’

I nodded.

“Yes. I would love to join you all for a meal, but I already have plans with Alice. I’m really sorry.”

I didn’t pour cold water on her nonsense. If my wife wanted something, I, as her husband, had to go along with it.

The seniors shrugged, acknowledging there was nothing they could do.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do. Shall we head back then?”

“Actually, there’s one more thing? I’d like to talk to Yu-jin for a bit before we go. Is that okay~?”

“…Here in the gate?”

“What’s the big deal~? We’ve already defeated all the monsters, so it’s not dangerous. I want to chat with Yu-jin while taking a walk! Maybe take some pictures!”

“We don’t really have time for that.”

“Of course, you seniors can go back first! There are taxis around here, so I’ll take one back with Yu-jin!”

Alice insisted on chatting with me for a bit before leaving.

While the seniors showed some reluctance…

“This isn’t a playground…”

“Didn’t you let Shia practice here with me yesterday?”

“…Ahem.”

Pointing out the teasing of the newbie from yesterday left them speechless.

In the end, a senior sighed deeply.

“You’ll wear your clothes, right?”

“Of course~ Look, I’m wearing pants now, right?”

“Tsk. We disarmed all the traps, but just in case, be careful. Try not to go outside the boss room.”

“Yes~.”

On the other hand, Alice was all smiles. She smiled broadly while putting on her clothes, making it hard to dislike her.

Thanks to that, the seniors one by one entered the return portal.

“Junior? You won’t do anything weird to Alice, right?”

“What do you take me for? I won’t touch a friend.”

“I trust you because you’re a decent junior. Don’t do anything weird in the gate, okay?”

“If anything happens, I’ll renew my contract with Cheonhwa for life.”

“Alright, then… I’ll trust you. See you tomorrow.”

-Shwoosh.

Even the team leader, who looked at me suspiciously until the end, was out.

Only Alice and I were left in the gate.

I then finally turned my gaze to Alice.

“So, Alice. What did you want to talk about…?”

-Swoosh. Whip.

“Whew~ It’s so hot~!!”

“….!!!!?”

I was met with Alice throwing off her clothes again. The smell of sweat wafted over.

“A-Alice…? Why are you taking your clothes off again?”

“Actually, it was still hot earlier, and I forced myself to wear the clothes. So, I got really sweaty.”

“I-I see….”

-Thud. Swipe, swipe.

“Let me wipe my sweat for a moment~.”

“U-Uh.”

She sat down and wiped her body with a towel.

…When did she prepare a towel? Did she anticipate this?

I quickly turned my head away.

Although it was a sight I wanted to see forever, I didn’t want to be branded a pervert.

“By the way, Yu-jin?”

“Yeah? What?”

“———That, ‘yesterday you practiced with Shia’ thing you mentioned earlier? What were you doing?”

“…!!!”

-Flinch.

…Good thing I turned my head.

I almost lost my composure.

I quickly made an excuse.

“We practiced villain suppression techniques. Shia and I.”

“Suppression techniques!? Just the two of you!!?”

“Yeah. The chairman had a book about it, and we practiced a few things from it….”

But, turning my head was a mistake.

Because of that, I didn’t see how Alice’s expression changed when she heard ‘suppression techniques.’

“Really. Since it was an old book, it had some pretty barbaric stuff in it. Like instructions to keep hitting the face until the teeth fell out….”

-Step, step.

“Yu-jin.”

“Huh? Why…”

While I was recounting the practice session, I heard footsteps.

Thinking she was done wiping her sweat, I quickly turned around.

I was met with a sweat-drenched Alice. And now, her expression was much scarier.

“Tell me the truth, Yu-jin. What did you do with Shia yesterday?”

“T-That is. I told you? We practiced villain suppression techniques.”

“Lies. I’m sure you did something you shouldn’t have while suppressing a villain!!!”

“…!!!?”

Alice demanded, her face stern, asking what I did with Shia in the gate, just the two of us.

‘No way, did she find out? About the deep kiss with Shia yesterday?’

-Step. Step.

“No? We just practiced…”

“If you lie, I’ll pounce on you.”

“What do you mean!!?”

She even declared that she would pounce on me if I lied.

Startled, I kept backing away until I felt a wall behind my back.

It meant there was no more room to escape.

-Squeeze.

“Tell me the truth, Yu-jin. I won’t get mad.”

“H-Hic. You’re… touching…”

“Is it something you can’t talk about? Huh?”

Alice pressed her body against mine, pinning me to the wall. She didn’t care that her breasts were pressing against me through the swimsuit. She seemed determined not to let me go until she got an answer.

Her eyes looked as if they were ready to kill someone.

‘What do I do? She won’t be fooled by any old lie. How do I get out of this….’

I had to come up with an excuse desperately. I activated my brain to its fullest.

Ignoring the fact that our bodies were touching.

And then, that…

“Actually, it’s because…”

“……Yu-Yu-Yu-Yu-jin?”

“Huh?”

“Since a while ago, um, there’s something hard pressing against my stomach. Wh-Wh-What is this…?”

“Oh.”

———led to the eruption of my barely suppressed instincts.