Suddenly, in this world, I put on a swimsuit for the first time thanks to Teresa.
At that time, I couldn’t even lift my head because I was so embarrassed and shy.
Until then, I still struggled with the fact that I had once been a man, and especially when it came to sexual matters, I was particularly naïve.
Teresa wore quite a daring swimsuit, and as she giggled and teased me, I couldn’t even respond and found myself desperately trying to cover my body with my hands as I squatted in the corner.
Of course, Teresa’s usual evening dress was even more indecent than the swimsuit, but considering her nature of dealing with shadow mana, I could understand it. Usually, Teresa hated showing her body to others, and when not in front of me, she would cover herself with shadow mana, hiding her appearance like a monster.
Anyway, I had long since discarded any shyness or embarrassment about wearing a swimsuit or exposing my body when I came to this world. With newfound confidence in myself, I found it much easier after that.
With no shame over my own body, I could also comfortably look at others without any inappropriate thoughts.
Menelapie in a revealing swimsuit that boldly exposed her side chest and cleavage, and Yeonhwa in a high-leg swimsuit that gave off a subtle yet vulnerable vibe, now left me feeling no embarrassment but rather admiration of how lovely they looked.
Especially considering Yeonhwa’s swimsuit was quite minimal, it really did only cover the vital parts of her body.
Though Menelapie could at least say her bikini was a valid excuse, it was quite strange that I felt such a lewd impression from Yeonhwa, whose physique could be described as somewhat frail.
Moreover, the high-leg swimsuit reminded me of the hunter attire Yeonhwa often wore, so it felt somewhat like she was always wandering around in a swimsuit like an exhibitionist.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was….
[Ice Blast]
Boom!!!
“Kyah!!”
“Huh… Unnie, are you okay?”
“Ugh…”
Yeonhwa looked at me apologetically, but I waved my hand to signal I was fine.
The world of competition is unforgiving.
Especially since we were here for fun, it’s rude to let some people win while losing to others. It would be disrespectful both to the participants and the spectators watching.
“Eek!” (Ha ha ha! Master, you’re so done!)
“Wah….”
I wanted to assert that I didn’t drop the ball because I was being a pervert and ogling Yeonhwa’s body, but rather that Yeonhwa had intentionally distracted me by wearing such a sensual high-leg swimsuit.
As expected of Yeonhwa.
What a fearsome child.
Now that she’s become an S-grade Hunter, her situational judgement and strategic thinking must have leveled up too…!
By the way, the ball Yeonhwa threw wasn’t an ordinary one either.
When it hit my head, it felt like ice and coldness were dripping from it, and I honestly thought my skull was going to crack.
“10 to 2, Yeonhwa wins!”
“Wow! Icicle Nine, you’re amazing!”
“You’re awesome, Yeonhwa unnie~!”
“Gallery Master, Seongnyeok pouch is the best… Ow!”
“Seungwoo, what did you just say?”
“Uh, no, that was…”
“Just follow me. We’ll talk at the lodge.”
“No, dear. What do you mean by that….”
Originally, we had planned to just hang out together, but as the afternoon went by, people began to gather at Gamji Beach. Naturally, multiple gazes were drawn towards us.
For reference, Gamji Beach is a government-owned beach accessible only to Awakened Ones, so unless someone was completely out of touch with the outside world or the news, it appears that both I and Yeonhwa had become quite recognizable.
It wasn’t like there were hordes of people; at most just a handful of spectators, so it wasn’t too overwhelming and was actually quite pleasant.
However, the defeat stung…
“Eek~ eek!”
And that cheeky Yane even laughed while I was down.
“Ha ha! Master is done for!”
“…….”
What the hell?
“Kyah?!”
I infused Seongnyeok into the ball rolling in front of me and threw it at Yane, but this annoying little girl, thanks to the process of eating the Fragment of the Demon King, had dramatically increased her physical abilities and dodged it by twisting her waist.
Yane herself seemed surprised she managed to evade it and, after a beat, flashed me a strange smile and pointed a finger at me.
“Missed~!”
“……”
Ugh, that chubby little brat…!
Her selective intelligence and vocabulary enhancements aren’t something she can control on purpose, but it’s just so frustrating.
“Hey, Yane, that won’t work then.”
“Eek!”
“Shia, Yane is still a child. You should understand with your mature mind, right?”
“…I was just joking. Do you think I was serious about Yane?”
“Eek…?”
For the record, that wasn’t a lie.
Asking my mom a question doesn’t count as lying.
Yeah… let’s calm down.
I shouldn’t be too harsh on Yane with mom around…
By the way, what we are doing now is [Hunter Beach Volleyball].
Everyone’s familiar with beach volleyball.
It’s one of those sports that female characters are sure to play when they go to the beach in summer within subculture, and due to the nature of being played at the beach, it often adopts swimsuits as the basic uniform, with women’s teams typically using bikinis.
As of 2088, it had become a major sport so popular that it was even registered as a TV show and international competitions were held.
[Hunter Beach Volleyball] is like traditional beach volleyball combined with dodgeball rules, making it interesting because Awakened Ones participating can freely use their abilities, including mana, aura, and curses.
For reference, it’s allowed to hold onto the ball for 0.5 seconds to coat it with abilities.
The AI referee ensures there’s no need to doubt fairness.
Within the set rules, it’s acceptable to interfere with opponents as long as it doesn’t cause injuries, and the most significant aspect of Hunter Beach Volleyball is the existence of the ball capable of holding the abilities of the Awakened Ones.
This ball, influenced by Returnee technology like Hunter Support AI drones, is made from the scales of an armored dragon with high magic resistance, and due to some unexplainable technology, when it absorbs an Awakened One’s mana, it doesn’t disappear but remains on the surface, literally acting as a vessel for the abilities of the Awakened Ones.
In my case…
Well, no matter how much Seongnyeok I inject into the ball, there’s not much of a difference.
If I put destructive miracles like Seongnyeok’s “cataclysm” in it, either the ball or a person will burst from the pressure. And if I put restorative or purification miracles, well… the ball doesn’t change much.
It just gets a bit cleaner and neater?
Anyway, applying Seongnyeok may make the ball sturdy, but that’s something any Awakened One who can participate in Hunter Beach Volleyball could do. And unless I intend to smash someone’s head, I can’t go all out.
However, for Yeonhwa, she was able to coat the ball with strong physical force and coldness, and even reduced the friction, making it so the ball easily slipped from my grasp even when I caught it.
“Ugh… I’ve lost three times already…”
“Ha ha, but I feel good knowing I’m definitely better at this than my admired unnie.”
“….No, how are you so good? Are you a fool? Did you practice this all the time?? You’d win a championship right away if you entered any tournament!”
“Well, not really. [Hunter Beach Volleyball] is a fantastic educational material for Hunters. They do activities in the academy on how to use abilities, adaptability, and skills examples. Before heading into dungeons claiming to kill monsters, I watched tons of international tournament videos for practice… And I can’t enter tournaments; S-grade Hunters are mostly banned from participating in international sports competitions except for a few exceptions.”
Given that Hunter Academy uses it as educational material, it’s clear that it also has great applicability and international recognition.
For reference, among the Awakened Ones, there are even those who only specialize in competing in international sports events like Hunter Beach Volleyball and Hunter Mix Fight without taking up Hunter roles.
In terms of overall combat abilities, I might be higher than Yeonhwa, but when it comes to applying those abilities to beach volleyball, Yeonhwa clearly knew what to do.
Due to her utilization, situational judgement, and even the daring high-leg swimsuit she wore, I ended up losing three times.
Even in a game, loss stings.
“Hehe, well then, let me take my turn.”
“Menelapie…”
“Don’t worry, Shia. I’ll definitely take my revenge.”
“Not really a revenge situation, though… But anyway, I believe you!”
Saying that, Menelapie cracked her knuckles and stepped forward.
That’s my brave hero…
She always stood up for me; it feels a bit foolish, but I like that!
For reference, Menelapie’s original form is elegant and streamlined like a dancer.
However, every time she revealed her strength, the muscles in her arms, legs, and toned abs would twitch, and it made my heart flutter for reasons I couldn’t quite name.
Could this be some sort of female corruption…?
No, female submission?
Is my heart just racing out of control at the sight of Menelapie’s magnificent muscles?
No way… that wouldn’t happen.
Just kidding, just kidding.
How could I, the Saint, think that way?
Anyway, while I was distracted, Menelapie infused her aura into the ball.
In Hunter Beach Volleyball, elemental or curse-type abilities are generally considered the strongest since they can coat the ball with elements like fire, lightning, ice, or curses.
In contrast, my Seongnyeok or Menelapie’s golden aura only serves to reinforce the ball.
“Are you sure it’s fine for you, having lost three times to me?”
“Fufufu, that’s why I’ve joined the game.”
“But, Menelapie, this is your first time competing in a sport in this world, should I go easy on you?”
“……Oh?”
Whack!
For reference, Menelapie was always number one at everything in her world.
As the Emperor and Hero, she had always been a model and the best at everything.
In various fields, she held strong self-esteem and pride, especially now that I was watching her.
So, did she hear me say I would go easy on her?
“Fufufufufufufufu….”
Ah, the switch has been flipped.
As her Golden Eye gleamed like it was on fire, not just Yeonhwa but even spectators around shivered slightly.
“Whoa, the atmosphere is intense…”
“That girl is really scary.”
“But doesn’t Icicle Nine have the advantage over that blonde girl? Aura users don’t have a significant edge in beach volleyball, right?”
“Guess we’ll find out once we see them play.”
As spectators commented, in reality, Yeonhwa probably thought she had the vast advantage against Menelapie, given that her aura wouldn’t contribute that much to her abilities for beach volleyball.
I agreed with that.
If Menelapie attempted to coat the ball with aura, it would just become sturdier at best.
“…Menelapie, you aren’t angry, are you?”
“Hm? As if I would?”
Liar.
Look at those arms. She’s clearly pissed…
“Then I’ll give you the first strike.”
“Thanks for the courtesy. Don’t regret it later.”
As Menelapie lightly tapped the ball, she flicked her wrist to send the aura-coated ball soaring into the air.
Then, with a mighty jump…
WHAM!!!
She slammed it down with a powerful hit.
Everyone—hunters, myself, and even Yeonhwa—could have predicted that much.
Of course, with aura, she aims for a powerful spike, planning the most effective and direct hit possible.
Yeonhwa read the ball’s trajectory and immediately laid ice down at her feet to lessen the friction as she quickly moved to the far right corner.
When attacking, she coated with ice, and for defense, she froze the ground to glide quickly, so I could see why I lost three sets to her.
For reference, when Yeonhwa and I played, if she caught the ball, it was pretty much game over.
As soon as she caught it, she’d instantly coat it with ice and spike it, making catching an ice-encased ball nearly impossible and difficult to shake off the aura.
“I caught it….!”
Thud!!
However, as she grabbed the ball, she accidentally lost it, causing it to bury itself in the sand.
“Huh?”
“What? Why did you drop it?”
“Eh?”
“Eek…?”
The spectators, mom, Yane, and I looked at Yeonhwa’s mistake with puzzled faces.
Even Yeonhwa seemed to not understand why she dropped it as she picked up the ball from the ground.
Suddenly, her face turned pale with shock.
“Holy….”
“What’s wrong?”
“Menelapie, did you just spike this with pure strength?”
With those words, Menelapie shrugged.
“I’d say it’s at least 200… no, maybe 300 kg?”
Insane.
How do you even hit that?
Well, I’m strong enough to destroy or throw things, but if a ball made for beach volleyball weighs 300 kg, how am I supposed to throw it around freely?
Menelapie was quite clever.
Knowing her physical abilities were high, she didn’t try to take any tricks or half-measures, but simply decided to pump a massive amount of aura into the ball to weigh it down, forcing Yeonhwa into the same conditions.
By putting so much aura into the ball that it went from 3 kg to 300 kg, adding coldness to it would make it difficult for Yeonhwa to hit back.
Menelapie effectively created a situation where Yeonhwa had to compete purely by hitting the ball back and forth.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to call that a foul? I merely infused aura into the ball.”
“……That aura is equivalent to 30 A-grade Hunters, you know? It’s impressive to even have hit it with that much aura; how did you even manage it…? Are you human?”
For reference, even A-grade Hunters, when putting their all into the ball made of armored dragon scales, are said to only increase its weight by about 10 kg at most.
But Menelapie had upped the weight to 300 kg.
“I’m human. And also Shia’s hero.”
In Hunter Beach Volleyball, the AI referee evaluates the abilities and grades of each player, determining if any infractions have occurred based on the powers applied to the ball.
So, if Menelapie genuinely hammered that amount of aura into the ball to increase its weight to 300 kg, the AI didn’t consider that a foul.
If the opponent was weak, AI might have declared Menelapie’s foul due to the gap in their abilities, but Yeonhwa was the youngest S-grade Ice User, Icicle Nine.
The AI deemed that Icicle Nine was capable of putting up a fight against Menelapie, and Yeonhwa was strong-willed enough not to just back down.
“Ha, I’m not keen on losing either.”
Thwack…!
The moment she spoke those words, Yeonhwa’s arms and legs were coated in ice.
She was gearing up to take on the 300 kg ball with protective layers.
“And how about we make a little wager among ourselves?”
“A wager? Go on.”
“How about the loser buys dinner in Seoul at my favorite meat restaurant?”
“………..Oh, I see. You want to be alone with Shia, huh? Fine. I accept the challenge.”
Menelapie smirked at Yeonhwa’s words.
“Eh, you didn’t need to go that far…”
I wouldn’t really mind if the three of us stayed together, though.
I don’t particularly enjoy if they’re engaging in rivalry over me like a catfight…
But it seemed like my voice was lost on Menelapie and Yeonhwa.
“Fufufu, don’t worry, Shia. I will definitely win.”
“Menelapie, right now you need to focus on me, you know? If you keep being like this, you might lose track..?”
After that, it truly was a…
War.
BAM!!
THUD!!!
“Wah!?”
“Wow!”
“Did they just hit that!?”
A brutal ball weighing over 300 kg sank into the ground like a meteor.
This was a match without any flashy effects or tricks, just pure physical strength of a direct confrontation.
Originally, Hunter Beach Volleyball was meant to showcase dazzling abilities and tricky tactics, but this battle was nothing short of a monstrous display of brute force.
In their original physical capabilities, Menelapie would have crushed Yeonhwa, but with Yeonhwa’s body coated in hard ice, she managed to alleviate the impact of the ball or even shatter ice from her hands to perform strong spikes, keeping the fight intense.
BAM!!!
THUD!!
BOOM!
CRACK!
The sand was in tatters.
Afterward, recovery teams would surely have a hard time, but the spectators couldn’t take their eyes off the sweat-drenching match.
“Yikes!”
“Ugh!”
BAM!
The current score was 8 to 6.
Menelapie had 8, while Yeonhwa had 6.
If Menelapie had practiced or studied the competition, she might have had a secure lead, but since this was her first experience without any trained knowledge, it felt ambiguous for both.
Menelapie seemed aware of that fact too, as the muscles in her arms began to bulge while golden aura spilled out around her.
She probably intended to pump more aura into the ball to increase its weight.
‘Menelapie’s confident in her physical prowess… So she thinks she can win if she just increases the ball’s weight, huh?’
If Yeonhwa didn’t find a way to counter, she’d likely end up losing overall.
“Fufufu, Yeonhwa, quite the skill you have.”
“Haah, haah… Menelapie, you too.”
“It was a good match, but… it’s time to end this.”
BAM!
The sound of muscles twisting erupted as the ball soared high into the air.
Ah, Menelapie has won.
Indeed, my hero will keep her promises.
I took a step forward to celebrate my hero’s victory.
Yeonhwa did well too, after all, she was only up against Menelapie.
And…
WHOOSH!
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
“What?”
The ball burst.
“…Why did that just…?”
Everyone—myself, Menelapie, Yeonhwa, and all the spectators—fell silent in shock at the sudden turn of events.
“…..Did it pop like a balloon…?”
“But it’s made of armored dragon scales, there’s no way it would burst that easily…”
“Holy crap, how much aura did she pump into that?”
Later, I found out that Menelapie had planned to make the ball weigh around 700 kg to ensure that she defeated Yeonhwa.
Simply put, it was far too much.
[Match Invalidated – Reason: Volleyball Burst]
“…..”
“….Aw, come on, what a letdown.”
Even though it had been a devastating hand-to-hand contest, it turned into a futile dead end, causing the spectators to sigh in disappointment.
“Phew…”
But I breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness I won’t have to drink so much water today.
Too much and I might get dehydrated later, which would be a hassle.
But still, with these two, what could they possibly aim to do with me?
