The air inside the "Linked Hearts" guild tent was thick with tension — not the dangerous kind from enemy raids or dungeon traps, but the kind that turned every meal into an accidental warzone and every eye contact into a mental battlefield. Ever since the explosive fusion incident between Lina and Iris, something had shifted. Not just in power levels, but in emotional gravity. And unfortunately for MC, he was caught smack in the center like the clueless sun at the middle of a very hormonal solar system.
At breakfast, he passed Iris the jam. She smiled in that soft, mysterious way that made time feel like it slowed down — possibly because she was literally manipulating time to extend their moment. Lina, on the other side of the table, cleared her throat. Loudly. Then reached over to steal the toast from MC's plate in an act of petty vengeance disguised as casual snacking.
He blinked. "Wait, that was my—"
"You weren't eating it fast enough," she snapped.
Across the table, Kira watched them with narrowed eyes, her spoon slowly bending in her grip. The rogue thief had only been part of the guild for a short time, but already she'd seen enough romantic nonsense to write a five-part play titled Why I Hate Group Living. She wasn't jealous exactly — or so she told herself — she was just… suspicious. Protective. Maybe a little annoyed at how much time MC seemed to spend blushing around other girls. Okay, maybe a little jealous. But only because she didn't trust them, obviously.
The awkwardness escalated when the guild gathered to review battle strategies for the next round of Guild War Trials. Kaela tried her best to keep things professional, drawing diagrams of enemy formations and discussing positioning. But every two minutes, someone interrupted with some form of unresolved romantic tension.
"Iris, if you time-freeze MC again to save him, the cooldown puts all of us at risk," Kaela scolded.
"I'll stop time for who I want," Iris replied coolly, twirling her staff. "Besides, he needed saving."
"I could've done it!" Lina shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "I was charging my flame blade! You just swooped in."
MC raised a hand, trying to deescalate. "Guys, seriously, I'm not that helpless—"
"You tripped over your own sword and landed face-first into a slime," Kira deadpanned. "Again."
"...That was one time."
"Three," Luna corrected softly. "I keep a chart."
Jax took a long swig of something alcoholic and muttered, "This guild's less 'Linked Hearts' and more 'Tangled Heartstrings of Emotional Destruction.'"
The final straw came during a sparring session, where MC was meant to rotate between partners. He started with Kaela, which went smoothly — mostly because she didn't make eye contact. Then he sparred with Kira. Or tried to. She dodged all his attacks effortlessly, never drew her blade, and at one point straight-up tripped him with a smirk.
"Your stance is sloppy," she said, kneeling beside him, poking his chest. "You're distracted. Maybe next time don't stare at your fan club before swinging."
He flushed, caught off-guard. "I wasn't— I mean, they're not— I'm not—!"
She stood up with a scoff and walked away, muttering something about "idiots and their reverse harems." Meanwhile, Lina watched the whole scene with fire crackling in her palm. Iris's eyes narrowed in a way that made clocks tick backward for half a second. Luna hid behind her spellbook.
Later that night, Kaela tried once again to establish guild harmony with a "team bonding" dinner. Instead, it turned into a passive-aggressive Olympics.
Lina cut vegetables with unnecessary violence. Iris rearranged the seating chart three times using chronomancy to ensure she sat next to MC. Kira showed up late, declared she wasn't hungry, then glared daggers at MC every time he laughed at someone else's joke.
When he complimented Luna's cooking, Luna turned scarlet, tripped over her own feet, and accidentally cast a charm buff that made him sparkle for fifteen minutes. The girls were not amused.
Even Jax stopped strumming his lute at one point to whisper, "Are we being targeted by a romance-based curse? Should I roll to dispel?"
By the end of the night, MC sat alone outside the camp, staring up at the stars, wondering how his life had gone from simple leveling goals to this emotional maze of chaos and potential murder by affection. The System didn't help.
[Affection Alert!]Lina: 100%Iris: 100%Kira: 45% — Spitefully risingLuna: 30% — Scared but hopefulKaela: 18% — Currently plotting your survivalJax: 2% — Likes your snacks
He groaned. "This isn't a love triangle anymore. This is a love hexagon. Or an octagon. Or a dodecahedron with feelings."
Somewhere in the distance, Lina and Iris started arguing again. Kira threw a dagger into a tree. Luna whispered a prayer. Jax fell off a log.
MC curled up on the grass, bracing for the next day's drama, and muttered the words that would likely become the unofficial motto of his guild forever:
"I just wanted to fight monsters, not hormones."
END OF CHAPTER 43