Volume 1 Chapter 1 The Gift of ‘Beauty’
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Thirty years have passed since the world sprouted dungeons like wounds in the earth, and humanity awoke to strange blessings they called ‘Gifts.’ With them came a new age of adventurers—hunters of monsters and seekers of treasure buried in the dark.
On an autumn day still clinging to summer’s warmth, sixteen-year-old Takanashi Hirose stepped into the Adventurer Guild. His palms were slick, his heart loud. Today, he’d finally learn what kind of Gift the world had granted him.
”…Takanashi Hirose-san,” said the receptionist, Fuyutsuki Saori, her tone calm and ritualistic. “Your Gift is… ‘Beauty.’”
”…Huh?” The sound scraped out of Hirose’s throat. It wasn’t a warrior’s Gift. Not a blade, not fire, not even a pitiful ‘Water Gun.’ Just… ‘Beauty.’
The woman who’d spoken—Saori—had the composed air of a professional. Her chestnut hair shimmered as she adjusted the flower barrette behind her ear. Though shorter than Hirose, she carried herself like she belonged above him.
”Please don’t worry,” she said gently. “Your information remains confidential. Even I would face criminal charges if I were to disclose it.”
”R-right…” he muttered, but his stomach hollowed. Dreams of slaying monsters evaporated. The Guild’s law was clear—only those with combat Gifts could enter the dungeons. ‘Beauty’ wasn’t even close.
”I’m sorry,” Saori continued, voice steady but her eyes softening. “You do not qualify as an adventurer… however, your Gift may yet prove invaluable in ways unseen.”
He barely heard her. The floor seemed to fall away beneath him. His dream—gone in a single word.
Then, strangely, her demeanor changed. A faint blush, a hesitant smile. The guildwoman shifted her weight, suddenly less the stoic employee, more the woman underneath. “There has never been a case of someone receiving the Gift of ‘Beauty,’” she murmured. “Perhaps you can’t be an adventurer, but… someone out there will need you. Someone like me.”
Hirose blinked. “Wh-what?”
She smiled, fragile yet daring. “We’re not allowed to make personal requests… but someday, when you’ve regained your confidence, would you use your Gift for me?”
Her words, though forbidden, carried warmth that no rulebook could erase.
”You looked so intimidating at first,” Hirose whispered, a nervous laugh escaping. “But you’re surprisingly honest about what you want.”
”Of course,” Saori said, lips curving. “Girls love Beauty, after all. To us, that might just be an S-rank blessing.”
He chuckled weakly. “Thanks… maybe I needed to hear that.”
Still, when he stepped outside, the cold air stung worse than her words had soothed. “WAAAAAAH!” His shout split the city square. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?!”
The wind swallowed his cry, leaving him alone with failure.
* * *
The next morning, his best friend Kuzuhara Yamato leaned over his desk, grin lopsided. “Yo, Hirose! So what’d ya get, huh?”
Hirose laughed weakly. “Ha… let’s just say, it’s not what I hoped for.”
Yamato shrugged. “Hey, don’t sweat it. Mine ain’t combat-type either. ‘Speed Reading,’ man! Great for tests, useless for dragons.”
Despite the easy grin, Yamato’s eyes carried understanding. Hirose realized—he wasn’t alone in disappointment.
”Guess I won’t ask,” Yamato said, clapping his shoulder. “That look says enough.”
”You’re… a good guy, you know that?”
”Yeah, well,” Yamato smirked. “Takes one to know one.”
And for the first time since the appraisal, Hirose almost smiled back.
”From across the classroom, a girl watched the two boys laughing. Her eyes glowed faintly—the telltale shimmer of an activated Gift.
”…No way,” she whispered. The vision that flickered through her Gift left her breathless: Hirose, surrounded by an almost divine aura, light rippling from his chest like sunlight through water.
* * *
After school, Hirose walked home alone, the evening air cool against his cheeks. His mind was heavy with silence when a soft voice cut through the quiet.
”…Takanashi-kun, right?”
He turned, startled. “Huh?!”
Standing there was Rindou Hibiki—pink hair brushing her shoulders, eyes wide and impossibly bright. She was the kind of girl who ruled social gravity, the one no ordinary boy ever expected to talk to.
”C-could you… come with me?”
”What?! Wait, where—hey!”
Before he could resist, she grabbed his wrist—her touch warm, insistent—and pulled. Hirose stumbled after her, torn between panic and the dizzying thrill of being dragged by a pretty girl.
Five minutes later, they stopped in front of a modest suburban house.
”This is my place. Come in.”
”Huh—why?!”
”Please! Just… please listen to me!”
He blinked as she bowed suddenly, voice trembling. Despite himself, he sighed and stepped inside.
The room was soft pink and neatly arranged, fragrant with something sweet. He sat where she pointed, heart pounding like a drum in his ears.
”I have a Gift called ‘Desire,’” Hibiki began. “It lets me sense what I want most. And this morning, when I looked at you with it… you were glowing—blindingly so.”
”Wait—you mean… something in you wants me?”
She nodded earnestly. “Yes! I overheard a little—about your appraisal yesterday. Whatever Gift you got, my body’s telling me I need it. I don’t know why, but… please, use it on me.”
Hirose froze. His mind spun between fear, disbelief, and the impossible softness of her plea.
”I—I can’t… I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone,” he said weakly.
”Then I promise I’ll never tell. Cross my heart.” Her hand clasped his, eyes glistening. The warmth of her skin spread through his palm like fire.
(This is a trap… this has to be a trap…!) His thoughts screamed, but her closeness made his resolve melt.
”My Gift,” he heard himself say, “is called ‘Beauty.’”
(Oh no—I said it. I actually said it!)
Her eyes widened. “Beauty…? That’s… beautiful.”
The air between them shimmered faintly, the invisible resonance of two Gifts meeting. And as her fingers lingered in his, Hirose wondered—had his power already begun to work?
Notes:
• Fuyutsuki Saori – Busty and tall Adventurer Guild staffer (F, 24yo, long brown hair, H-cup, 167cm). Saori acts as both a comic relief and career-woman image, expressing blunt interest in Hirose’s skill. Her character increases the adult themes and links the school setting to the outside world.
• Kuzuhara Yamato – Hirose’s closest male friend (M, 172cm, black medium hair). Skilled in speed reading, he is supportive and shares Hirose’s adventurer dreams, but remains in the story as a steady background character, contrasting the chaos Hirose’s skill creates.
• Rindou Hibiki – Hirose’s cheerful, bold classmate who is the first to request his Beauty skill. Hibiki (F, pink bob hair, 158cm, F-cup) is outgoing, expressive about her interests, and quickly becomes Hirose’s girlfriend after an explicitly intimate scene. Her reactions help set the adult tone of the story.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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