Death Leveling Chapter 48

[ … words ]

“This is… interesting.”

Put my hand on my chin.

“Certainly, this is interesting.”

Stepped back and forth… circling.

“Indeed, this is quite interesting.”

“66…”

Moved my head up—I was facing the town, still completely nude.

Jumped atop the buildings and began scouting.

Noticed a nearby house with laundry drying—went up to the clothes and took them.

Looked around… “lucky,” I whispered—no one was here, certainly the owner of this place dodged a bullet.

A kimono?—that looks quite nice. I dressed up and ambled up inside—there was a dirty mirror, reflecting the messy place.

Seeing myself, I couldn’t resist not grinning. I shifted from one pose to another, glancing at my reflection and praising my own aesthetic.

With one hand inside the kimono, I left the house—my eyes were dark and empty, filled with things that would make any sane man puke—and I enjoyed every second of it.

Should I hunt down the Shao girl for extra breakfast?—she did look quite delicious.

The thought quickly got buried—I was already out for too long, didn’t want my dear friends to look for me any longer than they needed to.

Walked across the town—people stepped in front of me, oblivious to everything.

So many humans… ah… mmmhm…

This world is full of innocence… my playground…

My sun and light… mm…

What a beautiful place this is… I’m so grateful…

“Yo, Nemo—did you miss me?” I voiced, facing him as he wore his little bunny mask—I was the sole person to have different attire today.

“Where… were you, Dante?”

Quickly, Soyeon ran up to him—worried sick, she looked.

“Dante!! We’ve been looking for you all over!!” this time the words came out of her rather than Nemo.

Pranced my hand to the backside of my head and scratched my hair, put on a light and playful smile and then replied, “I was hungry— for something proper, I mean, so I went back to the town and snacked.”

Upon a second or ten of silence, Nemo chose to be the verbal one, “what happened to your clothes?”

He seems suspicious—has he been like that for long?—or is this newfound?

“This…” I skimmed over my clothes with indifference ridden on my face.

“I robbed some poor grandpa that had his laundry drying.”

Just slightly, Nemo tilted his head.

“I… see.”

Then I giggled and yet again put on a jolly grin.

“Think I’ll get in trouble over that?”

Tell me, Nemo—is it more believable when I say it like that?—when I tell you the truth instead of sprinkling my typical lies to your oblivious self?

“No… I guess.”

“What’d you eat?” Ku inquired, with genuine curiosity.

“Meat… lots of delicious red meat.”

“Oh, damn, was it deer meat again?”

Had my eyes run to the sky…

“You could say that, Ku… you could say that…” whispered the repetition… suggestively.

I could see from the corner of my eye—Soyeon held one arm tightly against her chest, her expression filled with worry.

Was she feeling like I wasn’t clueing her in?—did she think we’re close now or something?

Rather than playing into the little farce I pulled on her earlier, I walked straight across her—had dim and dark eyes, completely devoid of any affection that she so fondly had for me.

“So, are we going or not?” yet again, I voiced in a tone that was void of life.

“Yeah…” Ku stated indifferently, and started walking next to me.

Soyeon began marching next; Nemo was last, as he stood just staring for a few moments.

I was quite curious… what was on his mind? From the bottom of my heart, darling, I know you won’t do anything… about anything. Since I was slightly ahead of Ku, I allowed arrogance to flow over my face.

Evening rolled around… we had walked a significant distance away from Dream Town.

My focus was on the raven, observing the floating man in the lake.

“Is everything okay, Dante?” Soyeon asked.

He had regenerated almost completely, but was still unable to properly swim away to the ground.

“Oh?—of course, why do you ask?”

The further away we got from the raven, the more MANA it required for me to operate it.

“You just— I guess, seemed a little out of it… you seem deep in thought.”

Is there a limit?—or can I retain control regardless of distance as long as my MANA reserves can support it?

“I was thinking about some things, you’re right—is that wrong?”

I guess, I’ll find out soon enough—it is interesting to see how MANA connection fades over distances.

“N— no… umm… sorry for asking?” this time she answered me in a slightly offended voice.

I stopped.

She noticed and paused herself—glanced at me.

Then, I proceeded to warmly smile.

“I was actually thinking about you, Soyeon.”

She stood, not answering.

And then yelled, abruptly, “ME?! What— what exactly?!”

“What?—you didn’t expect me to think about you?”

Stepped closer to her while subtly slanting my head, with a smirk that was overflowing with affection!—your favorite, isn’t it?

“Uhh…”

Her eyes went to the ground…

Noticed Ku and Nemo stop and turn towards us; how much I care!—you wouldn’t believe it!

Put my hand on her chin and raised her head—our eyes locked, face up-close with almost no distance between us.

“D— Dante…”

“Yeah?” I replied instantly, with a soft and flirty whisper.

“What’s— what’s with this switch up!!”

Standing her ground?—oh? Her tone was sardonic—she’s holding her own, what a brave girl!—I should praise her for this!

“What switch up could you be talking about? Hmm?” I let out in an oblivious voice, clearly suggesting that I hadn’t noticed any difference in my behavior.

“You— whatever!”

She proceeded to puff her cheeks and then began walking—going past me and joining Ku and Nemo; they started walking along with her.

My smile didn’t die… it continued shamelessly reigning on my face as I watched them move away from me.

A couple of days passed, and we were next to the Im City again.

It’s been over a week since we originally left.

I can’t say I missed it, but perhaps…

…I did.

Because of Nemo’s suspicion, I decided to eat—normally, and then throwing it up later.

If I can survive losing my limbs, getting pierced, and more, why should I die from eating normal food?—there’s no chance.

The hunger that comes with this form, while insatiable, doesn’t actually compel you to eat non-stop—you can clearly go for days and perhaps even weeks without a single bite.

I wasn’t worried.

What truly piques my interest right now… is…

…the floating man.