Hey, Why Are My Skills so Weird!?

After we rested enough, we departed towards the meeting place we accorded with the rest of the group.

It seemed like lady luck was smiling at us as we did not meet any spiders during the way. Thanks to that, we managed to meet with Karime, Jessica, and the others without any problem.

They were relieved to see that we returned safe and sound. They hurriedly asked us what had happened, and Andrew excitedly told them the entire story.

As for me, I remained silent with a pensive expression.

During this entire time, I had been thinking about the words of the demon.

… Andrew was the reason I almost died in the dungeon where I met the demon.

My first thought was that it was absurd, but after that, another thought appeared in my mind.

What if it is true?

That thought refused to disappear from my mind.

[Do you think I’m lying, boy?] The demon smirked as though he was amused with my thoughts. [Believe me. He is indirectly the reason why you were trapped in that dungeon.]

I fell silent. I wanted to ignore the demon’s words, but every time I tried, his words appeared in my mind like a deadly poison.

Finally, I was unable to continue like this.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked in my mind.

I felt the demon smirk, as though he found my internal struggle entertaining. Then, he gave me the answer.

[A hero needs more than strength. He needs a strong will to overcome the odds against him. You are his best friend. If you die in a dungeon, it will give him the motivation to take the first step forward. ‘I must become stronger so I can destroy all the dungeons. That way, something like this won’t happen again.’ That is most likely what was going to happen.]

I did not reply. Even though I wanted to deny the demon’s words, in my heart, I knew it was possible.

I know Andrew since we were children. He is someone with a strong sense of justice. I can imagine him thinking something like that.

But the demon was not done yet.

[There is also your little ex-girlfriend. Your friend likes her too, right?]

‘That is…’

[Don’t deny it. I’m not blind. And you are not blind either.]

I smiled bitterly and sighed.

Of course, I’m not blind.

Andrew has never admitted it, but as his friend, how can I not notice?

I discovered it a few months after I started my relationship with Karime. At first, I only had a small suspicion, but eventually, his behavior turned that suspicion into certainty. Even though he tried to hide it, it was obvious to me.

I never told him about it, but I’m sure he knows that I know.

But both of us feigned ignorance. We came to a silent agreement to feign that nothing happened so our friendship was not harmed.

[Your friend is a goody-two-shoes. He doesn’t have the guts to interfere in your relationship while you are alive. But what would have happened if you would have died in that dungeon?]

I wanted to stop listening to the demon.

[Your little ex-girlfriend would have felt guilty about your death. Most likely, she would have developed a trauma due to it. But then, your friend will take the stage. It will take him a while. Perhaps a few months or years. But eventually, he will heal her heart, gaining her affection at the same time.]

But I could not silence his poisonous words.

[That is such a cliché plot, But it’s effective. Relationships are the best way to tie someone to a cause. It will make him struggle harder to protect the world. In the end, your friend will become a hero acclaimed by everybody, getting what could have been yours. And you… You would be nothing but dust in a coffin.]

Although I hated to admit it, I felt resentment and anger after hearing these words.

But–

‘It would have not been his fault.’

[You are right. But, could it be that you don’t mind being used as fertilizer to nurture someone else?]

I did not reply. And the demon did not continue talking.

He just chuckled in amusement and fell silent, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

At that moment, someone pulled my sleeve.

Startled, I turned around only to see little Jessica looking at me with a worried expression.

“Brother-in-law, are you alright? You have a dark expression.”

“That is…” I looked around me only to see that the rest of the group was looking at me concernedly.

Only then did I notice that I had been making a gloomy expression for a while now.

Smiling wryly, I shook my head to indicate that everything was alright.

“Don’t worry, I was just thinking about something.”

“Something bad?”

“… You can say so,” I said vaguely and patted Jessica’s head to stop her from asking anything else. “What were you talking about?” I asked.

“Well, I was telling them how cool you were when you rescued me.” Mary, who was seated beside me, said with a grin on her face.

“Oh? Do you think I’m cool?” I asked Mary with the purpose of teasing her. But to my surprise, the older woman smirked.

“Of course. I almost fell in love with you. If you were a few years older, you would have been completely in my strike zone.”

I froze.

It was my first time being teased like that, so for an instant, I did not know how to react.

When Mary saw that, her teasing smirk became bigger.

“Thinking about it, a few years of difference don’t matter that much. Hey, Jane, do you have a girlfriend?”

Instinctively, I wanted to look in Karime’s direction, but I then remembered that we had already broken up.

Thus, I simply smiled wryly and shook my head.

I saw Mary’s eyes sparkle. She then licked her lips and stared at me like a carnivorous beast.

“Then you would not mind becoming my lover, right?”

I was dumbfounded. I was not the only one. Karime, Jessica, Andrew, and the others were just as dumbfounded as me.

This Mary… She is so bold!

Just then, Mary erupted in laughter. She hugged her belly as her eyes teared up from laughter.

“Hahahaha, how cute!”

If I could not realize that she was just teasing me at this point, I would be an idiot.

“… Sigh, to think that my heart was beating so hard. I almost fell in love with you, you know?” I smiled wryly and said that in an attempt to be smooth.

But suddenly, I realized that everybody was silent.

Startled, I looked up only to see that Mary staring straight at me with a seductive blush on her face.

Before I could react, she leaned forward and kissed my lips boldly.

I felt my entire mind blanking up. As for the rest of the group, they were looking at us with widened eyes.

When she separated her lips from mine, I could only look at her lips in a daze.

She kissed me!?

Damn, so I'm that charming!?

Right then, I felt someone pinching my thick. When I looked at my other side, I saw little Jessica looking at me with an angry face.

“Pervert. Cheater. Lecher.”

Girl, it was not my fault!