Scarlett walked away from the arena with a red face, her heels clicking softly against the stone floor. She wasn't the type to get shy about her body. In fact, being naked or seen naked never really bothered her. But this… this was different.
Her chest button flying off like a missile and knocking Sora out cold?
That was just embarrassing. Not because of the small bit of cleavage that got shown, but because of how ridiculous and dramatic the whole thing was.
She didn't even bother to check the crowd's reaction. The entire arena had gone silent. Over half of them had been loudly cheering for Sora before, and now… complete shock. Nobody clapped, nobody booed. They just stood there, frozen, with their mouths hanging open.
Except for the influencers and cameramen.
They were thrilled.
One of them was already typing furiously on their tablet, whispering to a mic, "Breaking news! Summoned Hero blows away top hunter with a chest button! More at 6!"
But Scarlett didn't care. She just wanted to get far, far away from that awkward moment.
Soon, she spotted Kozuha and Irish waiting near a small food stall just outside the arena. The smell of grilled meat and fried snacks hung in the air.
Irish was sitting on a wooden bench, looking relaxed and cheerful, her long ears twitching a little as she watched the food.
Kozuha stood next to her with a paper tray, holding something wrapped in foil.
"Here, try this," Kozuha said, handing the food over. "It's called a burger. But be careful, it's super tasty. Don't get addicted. It's not very healthy!"
Irish smiled brightly, unwrapped the burger like a kid opening a gift, and then—
Chomp.
She took a huge bite and then, without pause, devoured the entire burger in one go.
Her eyes lit up with joy. "Mmm! It's good! Tastes just like orc meat with breath vegetables, sauce, and spices!"
Kozuha almost dropped the drink she was holding. "O-Orc meat?! the kind that comes from Rank A orcs? The ones that take, like, twelve high-level hunters just to kill one or two?!"She thought as she gulped her saliva but didn't say anything.
Kozuha stared at her, stiff as a board. A chill ran down her spine. Suddenly, Irish's beautiful and innocent face didn't seem so harmless anymore. There was something scary behind those pretty eyes.
"Let's go to the next fight, I'm bored here!" Scarlett huffed, stepping forward with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. She walked a few steps ahead, then stopped, waiting for the others.
Irish immediately stood up from the bench with a bright smile, as if she'd been waiting for Scarlett to say that.
"Nice fight you had back there!" Kozuha added with a teasing smirk and a playful tone in her voice.
Scarlett frowned. "What? Are you trying to mock me now?"
She was already feeling irritated, and Kozuha's comment didn't help.
"I already told you that outfit wasn't a good idea, but you wouldn't listen!" Irish chimed in cheerfully. "But your face when the button popped was so cute! It turned all red, just like mine used to whenever I talked to you before!"
She giggled and glanced at Kozuha. "Kozuha even captured that moment with her weird device. I'm gonna treasure it forever!"
Scarlett looked between them, her lips twitching slightly.
"Even Irish is teasing me now?" she thought, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Well," Kozuha grinned as she pulled out her phone, "you're already the hottest topic in the world right now, and this little 'button blast' moment just made you go viral again!"
She tapped on the screen and held it up for Scarlett to see.
"Look! This video is from when you first got summoned and revealed your face. It got 2.4 billion views super fast, and now it's sitting at 4.6 billion total! That's a world record!"
Scarlett stared at the glowing screen.
Kozuha paused, then suddenly smacked her forehead. "Oh right… you don't know what any of that means, do you?"
She started to explain, "So being 'viral' means—"
But Scarlett cut her off with a cold voice. "I already learned what it means. And I need a phone too."
She turned away, her long hair swaying behind her as she walked toward the arena gates. "Let's go to the next fight," she said again.
Kozuha and Irish quickly followed after her.
"Do you want a new outfit?" Kozuha asked, glancing at Scarlett's top, which still had a missing button and a slightly open chest.
"No need," Scarlett replied firmly. "It's actually comfortable now. And the cleavage isn't even that big."
In truth, she didn't want to risk another button explosion. The memory was still too fresh and far too embarrassing.
She stopped walking for a moment and turned around to face Irish, her expression calm but a little awkward.
"And Irish," she said seriously, "I wasn't embarrassed. It was just… the sunlight. Yeah."
It was a terrible excuse.
The sun had nothing to do with her face turning bright red.
Irish just smiled sweetly and tilted her head.
"I just can't help but love you more," she whispered under her breath, her eyes soft as she followed after Scarlett.
----------------------
Kozuha and the others quickly left the academy before the reporters could swarm them with questions and waste their time. They got into the car again, shutting the doors with a sigh of relief.
The sun was already dipping lower in the sky. The warm afternoon was slowly turning into a calm evening, and the sky outside the car windows was painted with soft orange and pink colors.
"We're going to Hiroshima now," Kozuha said from the front seat beside the driver. "To fight the world's number two hunter—Daniel Petrov. He's from Russia. His specialty is durability. He's known as the best tank you could ever have on your team!"
Irish and Scarlett were sitting in the back, listening quietly.
Scarlett leaned forward a little, her voice curious. "Hey, Kozuha, can you answer something for me? If most hunters have some kind of special ability—like Sora has her ice powers and Daniel is super durable—then what about Arthur? What's his specialty?"
Kozuha scratched her head and looked a little unsure. "Uh… actually, no one really knows."
"What?" Scarlett blinked in surprise.
Kozuha nodded. "Yeah, when the 'status' system appeared on Earth, everyone between the ages of eighteen and fifty got teleported to this strange place called the 'Tutorial.' It was like a survival zone. Monsters everywhere. We had to fight and complete challenges to survive."
"Wait, what's that got to do with stats?" Scarlett asked.
"Well," Kozuha continued, "Before entering the Tutorial, each of us got a gift—100 bonus stat points to place wherever we wanted. Most people just spread them out evenly. But some smart people, like Daniel, used all his points on durability and strength. Sora focused everything on mana and elemental stats."
She paused for a second, then sighed deeply. "Because of that, when they finished the Tutorial, the rewards they got were way better. Like, they weren't random like everyone else's. Their rewards matched their choices and made them even stronger."
"They got ahead fast. Cleared dungeons early. Got famous before anyone even knew what was going on," Kozuha said with a look of regret. "I should've done something like that too. But I just… didn't think about it enough."
Irish rubbed her chin, looking surprised. "Tutorials? Bonus stat points? We never had anything like that in our world."
She looked at Kozuha with wide eyes. "In our world, we've had statuses since birth. It was always said that the goddess gave them to us. And only the ones chosen by her—the heroes—got special blessings!"
Irish tilted her head. "Your goddess didn't give you status from the start? Why now?"
Kozuha blinked and looked confused. "Goddess? Wait—what? No. Gods and goddesses are just myths."
Irish looked like she was about to argue back, but Scarlett gently cut in. "I'll explain it to you later," she said softly, giving Irish a small glance before turning her attention to Kozuha again.
"So… what does all of this have to do with Arthur?"
Kozuha sighed. "That's the thing. We don't know what stats Arthur picked, or what his main power even is. Sometimes he uses fire magic, other times earth, then lightning… He even changes his fighting style depending on the battle."
She turned to look back at Scarlett for a moment, her face serious. "He clears dungeons like a machine. Perfectly planned. He doesn't even take a single hit sometimes. It's like he can read the minds of his enemies."
"That's why people call him things like 'Mr. Perfect,' 'The Jack of All Trades,' 'The All-Knowing.' He's famous, respected, and super righteous. A good guy in every way."
Kozuha frowned and looked forward again. "That's why I don't get it… Why is he so against you?"
Scarlett leaned back in her seat, her face narrowing slightly as she stared out the window.
"Mr. Perfect, huh?" she muttered under her breath.
But she didn't say anything else after that.
"We arrived!", Kozuha said as the car stopped.
"Wait we are at Hiroshima already?", Scarlett was a bit surprised how did it took so little time?
But Kozuha cleared her misunderstanding.
"No we arrived at goverment's teleportation facility, We'll just teleport there!"