What happened when the speed of a person's thoughts exceeded their body's reaction speed?
They could only watch helplessly as they were about to be attacked while their body failed to respond. A certain Mr. Bucciarati, who wished to remain anonymous, understood this all too well.
Gong Qiying's body had inherited its original stat panel as well. The increase in his Intelligence attribute had greatly improved his thinking speed, but his frail body could not keep up with his brain's commands.
"Thud—"
At this point, everyone was probably imagining some suggestive scenario, right? A strange young girl threw herself onto a young man, beginning a wonderful encounter.
However, Elsa had not knocked him down. She had steadied herself perfectly, while Gong Qiying had been startled and fallen over on his own.
That was humiliating beyond belief.
Just as he was about to get angry, he caught sight of the enormous sword on her back.
Calling that a sword was a bit of an understatement—it was already plenty appreciated, please take it away.
"Uh, Heroine, what can I do for you?" He decided to follow his heart for once.
"I'm sorry." Elsa bent down and extended a hand to him, her face full of apology.
"?"
What was this supposed to be?
Gong Qiying chose to take the girl's hand. It was not soft at all; her palm was covered in calluses from serious training. It felt like she could crush his five maidens with a single squeeze.
He had thought Elsa would gently pull him to his feet, but once again, things turned out differently than expected.
Elsa suddenly exerted force and yanked him right in front of her. Their faces nearly collided!
Damn it, I'm really getting angry now. Gong Qiying glared at her. There was no way to mess with people like this. Even if that giant sword turned me into paste, I still have to greet your whole family.
Unfortunately, he did not know that Elsa had the exact same harmonious family relationship as Batman.
"Sniff, sniff."
"What are you doing?"
Elsa suddenly leaned closer, rose onto her tiptoes, and sniffed around Gong Qiying's neck. Her silky black hair occasionally brushed over his skin, bringing a tingling sensation. Her warm breath was rather suggestive, but Gong Qiying only felt as though Caterpies were crawling all over him. It was deeply uncomfortable.
She wanted to investigate the scent higher up, but no matter how much she stood on tiptoe, she could not reach anywhere above his neck. The scene became rather awkward for a moment.
Gong Qiying grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her away. "Miss, keep your hands to yourself. What kind of behavior is this, hugging and clinging to people in broad daylight? If you're really that desperate, I know a pretty good dungeon. The monsters inside are all very interesting."
Elsa stared at him and said:
"The scent of monsters."
"What?"
Gong Qiying's expression shifted slightly before he asked with a smile, "I'm an adventurer. Isn't it normal for me to smell like monsters?"
How strange. This body had not come into contact with monsters for several days.
"Not that kind." Elsa shook her head, looking confused again, as though she did not know how to describe it properly.
She felt that the monster scent on Gong Qiying was not the ordinary stink people spoke of, but something deeper, a presence that seeped into the soul. It was not a scent that someone who had merely spent a long time with monsters—even lived alongside them—could possess.
She had once met people who raised horse-type monsters. Those people had carried a similar scent, but—
The scent on Gong Qiying was much stronger. If she had to compare it, it was like the difference between Guangdong spicy and Sichuan-Chongqing spicy.
And the monster scent clinging to him was even more dangerous!
So far, Elsa only knew that she possessed the ability to smell the unique "scents" of demons and monsters. Sometimes, this special ability was more useful than magic.
This was the first time she had encountered someone coexisting with dangerous monsters. Curiosity had driven her to act irrationally.
Gong Qiying looked at the girl before him and vaguely felt an instinctive aversion toward her. All he wanted was to get away from her as quickly as possible.
Just as he was about to ask what kind of scent it was, a voice interrupted them.
"Elsa, what are you doing?" Sally came running after her, panting. His small frame had truly struggled to keep up with Elsa.
"Sally, I..."
Sally came before Gong Qiying, bowed slightly, and said, "I'm terribly sorry, sir. This child frightened you."
This was the Bede Family's third young master? He was surprisingly polite.
Gong Qiying had heard of the name Sally. He had heard that he was a beautiful young man, and now that he saw him, wasn't he exactly the kind of trap Old Thief Miyazaki loved most?
No, no, I can't judge a book by its cover. What if he turns into some huge muscular guy in his second phase?
He shook his head and said with a smile, "It's fine, it's fine. Being lively gives a girl more of a girlish feel. If there's nothing else, I'll be going first. You two carry on."
With that, he hurried away.
Sally watched Gong Qiying leave, then turned his stiffly swiveling head toward Elsa. His face darkened as he asked, "What were you doing just now?"
Sensing killing intent, Elsa silently took two steps back and said, "He smelled like dangerous monsters."
"Then he probably picked it up in the dungeon. I looked at his file—he's an adventurer. Adventurers who spend all year in dungeons more or less carry some scent. Don't be so tense. I'll have someone investigate his background, all right?"
Midway through speaking, Sally suddenly froze.
He had only glanced roughly over Gong Qiying's background. The guards had gathered the information in a short time, so it was not particularly detailed; it did not even fill half a page.
But as he thought back on it now, one piece of information stood out in particular.
Ma Lei Da, Bronze Rank adventurer, registration date—
His registration date was four days ago!
That was a little strange.
After thinking about it, he decided it would be better to have the guards investigate carefully.
When Gong Qiying returned to White Whale Street, the workers were sitting in front of his shop, every one of them looking worried.
"Why did you stop working?" he walked over and asked.
"B-B-Boss!?"
The workers looked as though they had seen a ghost. "We heard the guards took you away. We thought you'd gotten into some kind of trouble, and we were worried sick."
"You were worried that the work would be half-finished and no one would pay you, right?" Gong Qiying rubbed his neck. He still felt as if strands of hair were brushing against it, making it itch. "Don't worry. I was only called in for questioning over something. Just keep working as usual. You won't have to worry about your wages."
After reassuring the workers a little, he did not stay inside the shop to supervise. Instead, he wandered outside while thinking about what Elsa had meant by the scent of monsters.
Could staying around monsters for too long really leave some kind of mark? No, that couldn't be right. Those veteran adventurers did not smell particularly foul either.
And he also could not understand the urge rising within him to stay away from Elsa. It seemed to come from instinct—his instincts were telling him not to approach her.
"I should have less contact with her in the future," Gong Qiying muttered to himself.
A few days later, a piece of news was printed in the newspaper.
"Ma Lei Da Magic Item Shop officially opens today! Specializing in dungeon products, everything you could want is available! Welcome inside!"
Gong Qiying's shop had finally finished renovations.
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