Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 366: N-no, I’m fine!

Thanks to a certain store clerk, the atmosphere between Ethan and Vanessa had become a bit awkward.

At least for a while after that, neither of them said a word.

They just walked in silence toward Vanessa’s house.

Eventually, Ethan figured it was best to clear things up, so he took the initiative to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Hey, don’t be mad, okay? It’s not what you think. This is all Olivia’s fault—she’s the store clerk, and she’s terrible at passing on messages. She always gets things wrong.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Vanessa stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Ethan, a bit confused.

“Mad? Why would I be mad?”

Huh? That’s not the reaction he expected.

Could this be one of those classic situations where a girl says she’s not mad but is actually furious?

Ethan wasn’t about to take any chances. He decided to play it safe and asked, “Are you sure you’re not mad?”

Vanessa finally realized what was going on and couldn’t help but laugh. “Why would you think I’m mad?”

“Well, because of, you know…” Ethan mumbled, struggling to explain.

Vanessa noticed how much he seemed to care about her feelings. Seeing him fumble like this made her smile. She shook her head gently and said, “I’m really not mad, I promise.”

Seeing that she genuinely wasn’t upset, Ethan suddenly felt a bit more confident. He shot her a look and said, “If you’re not mad, then why haven’t you said a word this whole time?”

Vanessa, looking a little innocent, held up her phone and showed it to him. “Because I’ve been looking up info on the whole sandwich battle thing.”

“…”

Ethan stared at the screen, feeling a bit speechless.

Seriously? You couldn’t have just asked me? Now I feel like an idiot!

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Ethan caught a glimpse of something dark moving.

Startled, he quickly looked up, only to see an empty streetlight.

After confirming there was nothing there, he let out a sigh of relief.

Man, that freaked me out. For a second, I thought Batman was about to show up or something.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was secretly watching this guy who had helped her more than once. She found him pretty amusing.

Like right now—she could tell Ethan was trying to act all casual, attempting to change the subject without making it obvious.

“So, uh… what did you find out?” he asked, awkwardly.

Vanessa couldn’t help but chuckle at how clumsy he was being. She decided to play along and nodded with a smile. “I found a little something.”

As she dug deeper into the sandwich battle, she discovered that it was actually an event hosted by the Martial Arts Alliance.

The Martial Arts Alliance was the organization behind the “National Youth Open Martial Arts Tournament,” also known as the “Soul Fight Cup.”

Even someone like her, who wasn’t into martial arts, had heard of it. It was a massive sports event that brought together all kinds of disciplines—kendo, judo, karate, mixed martial arts, you name it. It was basically a giant brawl.

While it wasn’t as over-the-top as the stuff you’d see in anime, the chaotic nature of the competition made it super entertaining to watch.

And every year, fans of the different martial arts styles would get into heated arguments online.

The sandwich battle, it turned out, was one of the ways to qualify for this prestigious martial arts event. It was basically a wildcard entry.

Vanessa had been completely shocked when she read the rules. Was it really a good idea to let a bunch of people who fought over sandwiches compete in a professional martial arts tournament?

But then she found out that last year’s Soul Fight Cup champion had actually gotten their start by winning the sandwich battle.

“…”

This world really is something else, huh?

Vanessa couldn’t help but marvel at how strange things were.

And honestly, she was kind of tempted to join in herself. That deluxe sandwich they were fighting over sounded amazing and was super affordable.

As she regretted not having any martial arts training, a few doubts started creeping into her mind.

For example, according to the rules, each participant could only win one sandwich. But back when Ethan had helped her, he had been holding two special sandwiches.

So, she was worried that he might have broken the rules just to help her.

Vanessa wasn’t the type to keep her concerns to herself. She decided to ask Ethan directly about it.

After all, she needed to understand the weight of his kindness.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t break any rules.” Ethan shook his head and explained, “I’m an ACE. The rules allow me to take more than one sandwich.”

ACE?

Vanessa remembered that Olivia had mentioned that term earlier, so she was about to search for more information on her phone.

But before she could, Ethan suddenly spoke again. “Actually, I owe you an apology.”

“Huh?” Vanessa paused, her fingers hovering over her phone, and looked up at him, confused. “If you’re talking about what happened earlier, it’s fine. I don’t mind.”

“No, I mean the whole sandwich battle thing. You got caught up in it by accident, and I could’ve stopped it,” Ethan said, sounding a bit guilty. “I was right behind you at the time.”

Having spent the day with Vanessa, Ethan had a decent understanding of her physical abilities. Under normal circumstances, he should’ve stepped in and stopped her from doing something reckless.

But the problem was, Ethan had just gone through the whole Zara flying kick incident not long before. And when Vanessa had marched toward the refrigerated section, she looked so determined and fierce that it made everyone else who was about to fight for the sandwiches hesitate.

You have to understand, there are plenty of people who seem weak and harmless most of the time, but when it comes to fighting over sandwiches, they turn into absolute beasts.

How was Ethan supposed to know if Vanessa was one of those secretly strong types?

So, he hesitated, unsure whether to warn her. Plus, they didn’t know each other at the time—what if she thought he was just trying to hit on her?

While he was stuck in his own head, Vanessa had been knocked out cold, completely unprepared.

It had been an awkward moment, and Ethan had felt guilty ever since.

But after hearing his explanation, Vanessa looked even more confused. She stared at him and asked, “Why are you apologizing for something like that? We didn’t even know each other back then.”

“Huh?” Ethan blinked, then suddenly realized what she meant. “Oh, right.”

The whole body-swapping thing had messed with his sense of reality, and he hadn’t fully adjusted to living this double life. He’d instinctively started treating Vanessa like a friend.

So why was he feeling guilty again?

Clearly, Vanessa had just been unlucky. It wasn’t his fault.

Vanessa watched as Ethan’s expression shifted from guilt to a sudden sense of self-righteousness, and she couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth.

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, Ethan asked her a question.

“By the way, are we friends now?”

Vanessa nodded calmly, acknowledging their friendship.

“Can I call you Nessa, then?” Ethan asked.

He didn’t mean anything by it—it was just that he was more used to that nickname. Plus, he didn’t want to accidentally mix up her name later and embarrass himself.

But what was just a casual question for Ethan seemed to have a much bigger impact on Vanessa. For some reason, she looked like she was going through an internal struggle. After a moment, she turned her head away and muttered, “S-suit yourself.”

Her reaction left Ethan a little confused. Why was she suddenly acting all tsundere?

Vanessa, something’s off with you!

He also noticed that her face had turned a bit red, which made him concerned. “Nessa, your face is a little flushed. Are you feeling sick?”

“…”

“N-no, I’m fine!”