Chapter 271: Liliana

After dropping Yuna and Cleo off at the elementary school gates, I watched them wave until they disappeared into the crowd of kids. The morning air was crisp, sunlight already warm on the asphalt. I drove the short distance to Veyron Academy and parked in the student lot, still half-thinking about the weekend that had just ended.

Three full days of nonstop Fleshlight sex. Seven women. Endless creampies. Sleeping with my cock still buried inside Si-eun. My body should have been exhausted, yet the second I stepped onto campus the usual low thrum of desire was already back, steady and familiar.

I was halfway across the main courtyard when a familiar silver-haired figure cut across my path.

"Ren."

Liliana stood with one hand on her hip, student council president badge gleaming against her uniform. Her expression was carefully neutral, but the slight upward curl at the corner of her mouth gave her away.

"You’ve been ignoring my messages all weekend."

"Busy," I answered honestly.

Our eyes met. For a second neither of us spoke, then both of us smiled at the same time, the kind of private smile that said we both knew exactly what "busy" meant.

Liliana stepped closer, close enough that I could smell the light citrus scent of her shampoo.

"I’m not just some student you can brush off anymore," she said, voice low. "I’m your girlfriend. Any objections?"

"None."

"Good. Focus on your classes. Leave the outside work to me."

She reached up and straightened my tie with neat, practiced fingers. The gesture was casual, almost domestic, and it made something warm settle in my chest. I wanted to marry this woman. The thought arrived fully formed and refused to leave.

I rested a hand on her shoulder, then pulled her into a quiet hug, burying my face against the soft skin of her neck. She didn’t pull away. Instead she let out a small breath and rested one hand against my back.

"Getting bold in public," she murmured.

"Nothing left to be scared of."

Her free hand slid down and gave my ass a light, possessive squeeze through the uniform pants. The contact was brief, but it sent a clear message.

Monday morning already felt perfect.

I kissed her once, soft and deliberate, right there in the middle of the courtyard.

"Aren’t you worried about people watching?"

"I want them to watch," I said. "Liliana is mine."

"You’re not the only one who feels that way."

Neither of us cared who saw. The academy could talk all it wanted.

"About the D-rank evaluation," she said after a moment, pulling back just enough to look at me properly.

"It’ll come this week. Don’t slack."

One more kiss and I let her go. She watched me walk away for a few steps, then called after me.

"Your face isn’t half bad either."

"When did you decide that?"

She didn’t answer. Just turned and strode off toward the student council building, silver hair catching the morning light like polished metal.

I found Yuna and Elle already at our usual seats near the back of the classroom. Both of them brightened the second they saw me.

"Morning, Ren."

"Morning."

Yuna sat down beside me and leaned in close, voice pitched low so only I could hear.

"Did you... enjoy my mom?"

I almost laughed out loud.

"She didn’t come home last night."

"I didn’t send her back."

"She was hungry."

Elle’s face crumpled in a way that made my chest tighten.

"You can go out and eat, you know."

Elle stayed quiet, shoulders hunched, staring at the desk. Something was off today. The usual soft, slightly nervous energy she carried was heavier, more brittle. Maybe I should have brought food for her.

"I already ate," I said gently.

"Not good enough," Yuna muttered. "Selene and Sumire—"

Yuna’s eye twitched at the familiar, too-casual use of her mother’s name. I took her hand under the desk and laced our fingers together. Her small hand disappeared completely inside mine.

"Every day you do this," she whispered.

"You hate it?"

"...No. I like it."

She didn’t pull away. Her thumb brushed once against the side of my hand.

"I like you, Yuna."

"Me too."

Goonam hovered near our desks a minute later, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Uh... rent’s still pending for the club room?"

"Next time," I said. "Promise."

Before the first bell I stopped by Reida’s usual corner near the training wing and returned Nami’s enhanced gear, the black bikini folded neatly on top. Moonlight Benelli remained S-rank with a few minor refinements. The Glock had climbed to A-rank. Python hit solid B across every category. Nami’s bikini settled at B+.

Elle tested her newly reinforced staff in the empty hallway and smiled for the first time that morning, a small, genuine curve of her lips.

"Feels smoother. Magic flows better."

"Ebony Blade’s B-rank now," Yuna added, pride clear in her voice as she rested a hand on the hilt of her dual swords.

"Today’s dungeon is ours," I told them.

"We’ll work hard!"

They exchanged a private little look and giggled, the kind of shared secret that made me curious what had happened over the weekend while I was locked in the Fleshlight workshop.

"Look forward to it, Ren."

"I will."

Elle immediately backpedaled, waving her hands.

"Actually maybe lower expectations. A lot. Or zero. Zero is safer."

Yuna smacked her on the back hard enough to straighten her spine.

"Confidence, Elle."

"Yes!!"

We entered the assigned B-rank dungeon as a group, the usual mix of anticipation and routine settling over us. The first corridor looked ordinary—stone walls, faint mana lights, the low hum of a stable instance.

Halfway through, the anomaly hit without warning.

[Anomaly occurs]

[Gravitational wave coordinates changed]

The world flipped sideways. Light and sound stretched, then snapped back into place. When my vision cleared I was standing alone on an open, wind-swept plain under a pale sky. No corridors. No team.

Except for one other person.

Dihirrit, the class’s resident fire-mage troublemaker and self-proclaimed genius from a magical noble family, stood a few meters away looking equally pissed off.

I checked Lucky Pervert out of pure habit. The combination the skill suggested was so ridiculous I almost laughed out loud.

"Hey."

He scowled, flames already flickering faintly around his fingertips.

"Fuck, I hate you too."

At least we were honest with each other.

"Didn’t you already apologize once after the last incident?"

"Apologies don’t make us friends, asshole."

I checked my armor plating and slung Benelli over my shoulder, the familiar weight comforting.

"Even if it wasn’t you specifically—"

"Shut up and walk."

"Where the hell are you going?"

"Wherever. You coming or not?"

"Academy rules say we help each other in anomalies, you bastard! Leave me and I’ll report the penalty points myself!"

I stopped walking and turned back.

"...Fine. Lead or follow, your choice."

Dihirrit immediately started complaining again, falling into step beside me with obvious reluctance.

"You’re just gonna hide behind the mage and shoot from the back like always, right? Classic D-rank tactics."

"Works for me."

"You’re strong, I’ll give you that much."

Compliment or insult—hard to tell with him.

"I’ll take point then. Happy?"

We hadn’t gone twenty steps across the grass before plant-type slimes the size of small cars erupted from the ground with wet, sucking sounds.

[Plant Slime – B+]

Three of them charged at once, vines whipping, core orbs glowing sickly green.

Dihirrit wrapped himself in a sheath of flame without hesitation.

"Yongso!"

A pillar of fire swallowed the leftmost slime, the plant matter blackening and curling. I racked a dragon-breath shell into Benelli, poured the last of the incendiary powder into the chamber for good measure, and fired.

Bang!

Two more bodies collapsed in burning heaps, the smell of scorched vegetation thick in the air.

Dihirrit lowered his hands, looking almost sulky that the fight had ended so quickly.

"Do something useful next time instead of just standing there looking pretty."

Before I could answer, a third figure crawled out of a shallow ditch nearby, school uniform caked in dirt and grass stains.

"Wait! Not a monster!"

Gu-nam, the class tank and professional meat-shield, stood up brushing mud off his sleeves with a sheepish grin.

"Ren. It’s me."

"How the hell did you end up here?"

"Coordinates shifted mid-entry. Same as you two, I guess. I was face-down in the dirt for a solid minute before I realized what happened."

Three guys. No girls. No Fleshlights waiting in inventory to be summoned.

Lustbound really knew how to throw a curveball when it felt like it.

I looked at the open plain, the distant tree line, and the two very different classmates standing beside me. Dihirrit still radiating irritation, Gu-nam already scanning for threats with the seriousness of a lifelong tanker.

A bachelor party in the middle of a B-rank anomaly.

This was going to be interesting.