Volume 4 Chapter 12 The Observation of a Beautiful Friend’s Dark Transformation
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It was the night Aoi had received the ‘Lymphatic Massage’ Skill. She had dragged Rio along to a brightly lit family restaurant.
”—I’ve told you so many times, but Rio, you’re just weird. This isn’t normal. I appreciate that you’re worried, I really do. But honestly? I like myself way more than I used to now, you know?”
All the way to the restaurant, Rio had kept repeating the same concern. However, Aoi’s resolve was rock-solid. Rio pleaded with her friend to distance herself from the male Hirose, but for Aoi right now, that request felt completely out of touch with reality.
”Wanna try it out just once, Rio?” Aoi coaxed.
”Wha—What are you even saying?!” Rio flinched, her voice rising in immediate protest.
”Didn’t you say you were curious before, though?”
”Th-That was… if it was with someone I actually loved, you dummy! It’s not some kind of casual thing like that!”
Rio had raised her voice at the sudden invitation, and of course she had. Sharing her skin with a stranger was absolutely out of the question. Even a suggestion from her best friend couldn’t make her agree to that.
”But you know, you’re pretty reserved, right? If you stay this way, you might never get a boyfriend, you think?” Aoi chuckled.
”U-Ugh, shut up… You were reserved too, Aoi!”
”Yeah, that, I’ll totally admit.”
”Why… Why did you become like this, Aoi? Just give me back the pure you…” Rio pleaded, her worry showing on her face.
”Oh, Rio, you really are so sweet. You look a little scary, sure, but on the inside, you’re such an Otoñe¹.”
Rio’s eyes were naturally sharp, and people often found her intimidating. Younger students, especially, avoided her, sidestepping her even when she just walked down the hall. But even she was just a normal girl. She wanted to experience Koi²—love, too.
However, it wasn’t the shallow, easy kind Aoi was talking about; Rio longed for a serious, deeper Koi.
”Hirose-senpai actually has a serious girlfriend, you know?” Aoi informed her.
”No way!? Then that’s cheating! That’s awful!” Rio gasped.
”Nah, it’s not. His girlfriend totally approves. You know Hibiki-senpai, don’t you? She’s his girlfriend.”
”Eh… wait, what!? But she was super popular even back in middle school… I don’t get it at all…” Rio stammered, unable to process the news.
Both Aoi and Hibiki were seniors to Rio from their middle school days. Of course, Hibiki was a senior to Rio as well. Rio knew that Hibiki’s cuteness was famous throughout the school, and she was aware that Aoi had looked up to her.
”Well, there are a lot of reasons for it. Some things I just can’t talk about, though….But what if I told you that you could become even prettier than you are now? What would you think?”
”Prettier… But I’m already—ah…” Rio paused.
Rio’s gaze landed on Aoi.
Since the end of their third year of middle school, Aoi had suddenly begun to get beautiful. They could consider many reasons—maybe she got a boyfriend, maybe it was a growth spurt—but the main thing Rio felt was the change in the alluring air Aoi carried.
”Look at my skin, seriously. It’s smooth, like a baby’s, right? No hair anywhere. I started looking like this after I met Hirose-senpai.”
Aoi couldn’t say more because of the ‘Pledge’ Gift. So, she only spoke about the male Hirose’s appeal, walking the line carefully.
”—Don’t you want to be pretty?” she whispered, her voice low and enticing.
Aoi hadn’t said anything concrete. Yet, the fact that Aoi herself had transformed right before Rio’s eyes was undeniable.
”But, I feel like he’s… definitely a bad person… to make you change like this…” Rio insisted.
”Haha. Actually, you could say Hirose-senpai doesn’t have a single bad quality about him, you know?” Aoi countered easily.
”Huh?”
Aoi casually denied Rio’s assumption that he was a bad guy.
”He’s not exactly a super-hot celebrity, but he’s so gentle that girls end up dragging him around, and he’s the type who can’t say no when asked for help. He worries about me a lot, too… Plus, his thing is huge…”
”I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part… but I get it, Aoi. I understand you like Hirose-senpai. And I guess anything I say won’t matter now…” Rio sighed.
Rio had been determined to reject the male Hirose. But she felt the complete honesty in Aoi’s words.
”—If you become pretty, maybe you’ll get a boyfriend, too?”
It was a trap. Aoi had set a clever trap, like a metaphorical quicksand that, once stepped in, was impossible to escape.
The only girls around the male Hirose were all older seniors. That was exactly why Aoi wanted to pull in someone on equal footing—Rio—into her world.
”Maybe… but I still can’t trust that guy…”
”Just think about it. You were with him on the Beautification Committee today, right? What was Hirose-senpai like?” Aoi pressed.
”Well… while everyone else was slacking off, he was the only one working seriously…”
”Does that really make him seem like a bad guy?”
”……But, there are also rumors that he’s a player…”
”That’s just a lie I made up. Hirose-senpai isn’t the one looking for us. We’re the ones seeking him out. So, he’s not at fault at all.” Aoi explained as Rio wrinkled her brow.
Aoi leaned in and continued, “How about this, then… Observe Hirose-senpai for one week. If your misunderstanding clears up—you have to do one favor for me, okay?”
”……Fine.”
Upon hearing Rio’s answer, Aoi smiled contentedly.
Rio was weak when it came to Aoi. Aoi was the one who had stuck by her when she had no other friends. That was why Rio wanted to believe her. She wanted to remain friends, whatever the cost.
—And just like that, Rio’s week-long observation began.
* * *
”……”
”Hirose? Something wrong?” Hibiki asked.
”Nah… nothing at all.”
The following day during lunch, the male Hirose was eating his boxed lunch with Hibiki and the others in the classroom when he suddenly felt a gaze on him and looked around. He couldn’t spot anyone, so he dismissed it as his imagination and moved on. But the gaze persisted the next day, and the day after that.
Then, that same day, the male Hirose and the group gathered in the ‘Master Room’ to discuss the next agenda item.
”—Actually, I picked up a new Skill.” Hirose announced.
”No way!” The group exclaimed in surprise.
All eyes immediately turned to him, eager to know the details of the highly anticipated Skill.
”It’s called ‘Lymphatic Massage,’ and I met Aoi-chan by chance after the committee work and tried it out.”
”Lymphatic!? What is that, it sounds super interesting!” Hibiki chirped, instantly engaged.
It was a familiar phrase, but they didn’t know the specifics. Since it was called ‘Massage,’ they assumed it involved some kind of physical procedure.
”It does physical recovery, fatigue recovery, swelling reduction, improved circulation, period pain relief… all kinds of stuff. But the best part is—”
”Hold up! Poor circulation and period pain relief!? That’s seriously amazing!” Hibiki shouted, interrupting the male Hirose’s explanation and instinctively jumping to her feet.
”…That is indeed an appealing Skill. While I don’t suffer severelyy girls do, so it has wide benefits.” Kirino commented in her composed voice.
”You’re right. …Hibiki-chan, let’s let Hirose-kun finish talking, okay?” Koharu gently advised.
”Sorry, sorry. Keep going!” Hibiki apologized, quickly sitting back down.
”…And, get this, the Effect is immediate.”
”—Say that again?” The surprise among the group only intensified.
Even the male Hirose himself had been shocked. The Effect that usually took several weeks now appeared immediately after the procedure.
”The treatment took the usual time, but right after, Aoi-chan said she felt like she could go do club activities again.”
”So, her physical stamina recovered instantly?” Saori summarized.
”Yep. So, I was thinking. The dungeon should have a recovery point like this, right?”
”—That is a marvelous idea! It would be an element no other dungeon has!” Saori cried, jumping to her feet and clenching her fist.
If it eased not only stamina and fatigue but also menstrual pain, this would be a centerpiece feature.
”So, let’s put a hot spring near the treatment room we talked about before, and apply the ‘Lymphatic Massage’ Effect to the hot spring?” Ecoa suggested.
”Since the Skill requires massaging the skin, we’d need something like a Tentacle Slime to perform the procedure.”
”Then let’s use the Tentacle Slime for now. We can make it so the person can choose whether or not to receive the service.”
”Understood. We’ll proceed with that direction.”
The male Hirose agreed to Ecoa’s proposal. The idea of a Tentacle Slime for stamina recovery raised a slight unease, but since they didn’t have any other alternative at the moment, they decided to adopt it provisionally.
—
Summary:
The emotional stakes rise as Aoi, transformed by her Gift and utterly confident, attempts to pull her worried, traditional friend Rio into her new, morally ambiguous world, framed by a casual family restaurant setting. Rio, anxious about Aoi’s sudden, brazen changes and newfound loyalty to the male Hirose, reluctantly agrees to a week-long observation of him. Meanwhile, Hirose and his dungeon group enthusiastically discuss their latest Skill, ‘Lymphatic Massage,’ realizing its immense potential for physical recovery and feminine health benefits, leading to a strange, provisional plan to integrate a Tentacle Slime into their hot spring centerpiece feature for the dungeon. This chapter sets the stage for a tense week of secretive watching and high-fantasy-system development.
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Character Insight:
Rio’s internal struggle is key; her sharp, intimidating exterior hides a pure-hearted, maidenly nature, making her highly resistant to the casual morality Aoi now espouses. Her strong loyalty to Aoi is the emotional leverage Aoi uses, trapping her friend into a path of observation that is clearly a prelude to the ‘Pledge’ Gift’s influence. This deep-seated friendship bond is what the seemingly amoral Aoi is exploiting, confirming that her character arc is becoming increasingly manipulative under the Gift’s powerful, attractive influence. The contrast between her pure-hearted nature and her friend’s newfound brazenness defines her immediate struggle.
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Behind the Scene:
The chapter was designed to quickly escalate the personal conflict between the two girls, using Rio’s natural skepticism and innate morality as a foil to Aoi’s Skill-driven obsession. The dialogue was structured to deliver key lore details (like Hibiki’s awareness of Hirose’s situation and the Pledge rule) while simultaneously advancing the plot, setting up a guaranteed future event—Rio’s observation—that will inevitably draw her closer to the male Hirose. The final scene pivots to the dungeon planning to reinforce the high-stakes, real-world utility of the Skills, juxtaposing the personal drama with the pragmatic, slightly bizarre fantasy system mechanics (like the Tentacle Slime recovery point).
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T/L:
1 Otoñe: A subtle Japanese term referring to a young woman who possesses the elegance, grace, and pure heart of a maiden or a very feminine girl. ↩
2 Koi: Specifically refers to romantic, passionate love, often implying desire, as opposed to ai, which is more generalized affection. ↩
Notes:
• Rio – A member of the Beauty Committee who previously worked with Hirose and already holds a negative opinion of him, seeing him as a ‘playboy.’ She has short dark hair and is dressed neatly in her school uniform. She is Aoi’s friend and is currently determined to ‘rescue’ her.
• Kirino – Strikingly beautiful with blue long hair (F, 168cm), Kirino is gifted with ice magic and feels isolated because of her appearance. Hirose’s Beauty skill helps her improve her self-image and social comfort, directly affecting Kirino’s relationship with her family and classmates.
• Ecoa – The Guardian of the Dungeon Core, a beautiful entity with long blonde hair, slit eyes, and distinctive pointed ears reminiscent of an elf. She initially appears in black ceremonial robes, which instantly transform into a revealing, classic black maid uniform. Her existence was previously undetectable by ‘Appraisal’ Gifts. Her sole purpose is to serve and support the Dungeon Master, Hirose.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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