Chapter 12: "Unlucky" Me Should Probably Disappear

"Hell yeah—!"
"We won! Good work, Rina! You too, Yous!"

Woo-hoo!

Anna cheered for us (I waved back), and the usual idiots screamed their heads off. Sonaria was hugging Paraleya, who looked oddly embarrassed, while the Leader struck a pose—still golden, of course.

Man, the Leader’s skill lasts way longer than mine. Kinda jealous.

"Hey! Leader, still shining like gold today, huh?"

"Ufufu~ Praise me more! Behold the majesty of my sculpted muscles!"

A bunch of random people had already gathered around the golden Leader, singing his praises—somehow, this had become a tradition.

Y’know how sometimes a dumb thing you do on a whim just sticks?
Also, what the hell does "shining like gold" even mean…?

"Rina, you hurt?"

"You’re the one I should be asking. Didn’t screw up, did ya?"

We checked in with each other.

Yeah, Yous is fine—same as always.
This guy… When it’s like this, he really does just turn into a straight-up pretty boy, huh?
Normally, he’s not that different from the idiots fawning over the Leader.
Then again, being too handsome means he gets swarmed by women at bars and can’t even join in the dumbassery with the guys. Poor guy, in a way.
Me? I’m the resident spectator, laughing at it all. "It" being both the guys’ stupidity and Yous’s.

"...What’s up with you? Staring at me, zoning out, making weird faces."

"Nothin’. Doesn’t matter. Ain’t got nothin’ to do with you."

I looked away.

Hope he didn’t notice I kinda thought he looked cool for a sec.

"Actually, I was surprised—"

Then—

"—Didn’t think you’d go through with it without hesitation."

That made me freeze.

...Huh? Now that he mentions it, I just used my skill without even thinking.
But… I don’t usually do that, do I?

"Oh, now that you say it…!"

Anna, apparently realizing the same thing, rushed over, grinning like crazy as she shook me.

Whoa, quit it! There’s nothing on me to jiggle!
...Okay, fine, maybe not nothing but still—!

"Rina, you always throw a fit when you have to use that, but this time you didn’t care at all!"

"Uh… Yeah, I guess?"

...Wait, why did I hate using that skill with him again?
Was there even a reason?

"I mean, if you’ve got it, why not use it? That’s just normal, right?"

"No no no, try saying that to yourself a few days ago. You’d’ve ripped into you."

"Would I?"

Hmm. Dunno.
Sure, I used to hate it, but people change, y’know?
Making a big deal out of it kinda pisses me off.

"Ugh! It just means Rina’s grown up! That’s a good thing, so don’t say it like that!"

"Leader!"

I turned—the Leader was back to his normal bronze self.

"That’s puberty for you. Things that felt like a big deal when you were young just… stop mattering. You’ll get it someday, Anna."

"...Sexual harassment?"

"No, that’s not what I—!"

I muttered without thinking:

So "growing up" just means doing the deed, huh?
I mean, sure, maybe the Leader didn’t mean it like that, but… what else could it be?
Wait, no, that’d make me way too easy!

"Oh, I slept with him once and got over my hang-ups"? Pathetic.

Or what? Did something "click" while we were at it?
No idea. I don’t remember a thing.
That night’s a total blackout.
Hell, Yous was wasted too—

"...Huh?"

Then it hit me.

Come to think of it… Did Yous ever actually say he forgot what happened that night?
More than that—how did I even know we did it?
There’s no proof. Unless…

Unless he remembers.

"Hey, Yous."

But he never said anything.

So what’s that supposed to mean?

My mind sharpened. I had to ask.

"—You remember that night, don’t you?"

Silence. Then—

"Uh. What the hell are you talking about?"

He replied, dead serious.

Oh. Uh…

"…………It might be important, but springing that on me out of nowhere? Kinda kills the mood."

"Save that kinda talk for when you’re alone, ’kay?"

That… wasn’t the reaction I expected.

Okay, yeah, maybe this wasn’t the place to bring it up.
But this is important. If I don’t ask, I feel like I’m missing something huge.

"...The timing was weird, but… I’m glad you asked. I’d been hoping you’d bring it up first."

"O-oh…"

"I didn’t want to force my feelings on you after I’d already made peace with it. So… thanks."

Uh, well.
Him being this sincere just makes me feel like a kid throwing a tantrum.
Ugh, why’s he gotta look at me like that?! Acting all mature while I’m stuck in emotional puberty?!

"But seriously—talk about this when we’re alone, got it?"

"...Yeah."

My reply came out embarrassingly childish—almost girlish.

---

—Puberty, huh?

That word dragged up old memories.

After that night, I’d been forced to confront how special Yus was to me—but before that, I’d fought tooth and nail to deny it.

Like how, right before it happened, I’d been drunk off my ass insisting "Who the hell would ever fall for a guy?!"

I’d never cared about gender, mine or anyone else’s. Even now, I wouldn’t call myself a "woman" without hesitation. That much hadn’t changed.

But back then, I’d hated using our Alternate Skill together. After the first time, I refused for ages. Even after caving, I never stopped complaining.

"Like I’d ever love some guy."

I’d also convinced myself I was special because of my unique constitution.

Not wrong, technically—my body’s rarity matched my ducal bloodline. But the problem was how smug I’d been about it.

Officially, my condition’s called "Hakkou" (White Luck).

It’s a type of Alternate Skill, though the abilities I actively use are just byproducts. Its true nature? "Borrowed Luck."

I "withdraw" happiness from my future to distribute luck to those around me. Only my family, Yous, and a handful of others know. Not even Anna.

Ignorance is bliss.

Then again, "borrowed luck" is just a theory. It’s based on how past Hakkou users died young, as if repaying their debt.

…Like my mother.

But I’ve never pitied myself. If anything, I’m determined to outlive the curse—wrinkled and unrepentant.

Hell, my past life already prepaid my suffering. Since that version of me died in her mid-20s, this life’s "White Luck" should have better terms.

The real issue is how the luck manifests.

To spread fortune, my body creates disasters. Like today—I attract chaos through sheer coincidence, dragging others into life-or-death scenarios. Sometimes, people only survive by sheer luck.

That’s the kind of "blessing" I carry.

There was a time I hated it. A time I believed I had to stay alone, never letting anyone close.

Back when we became B-rank adventurers—

Back when we "defeated" that quasi-S-rank monster—

"—Rina, where the hell are you going?!"

—That was the day I nearly got everyone killed.

An item I’d found on a job had been sealing a monster. An A-rank (technically quasi-S-rank) threat, far beyond us. When it broke free, it endangered not just our party, but every adventurer nearby.

It wasn’t the first time, but it was the last straw.

"Where? How the fuck should I know? Ask tomorrow’s version of me."

I’d tried to leave the party. Yous caught me.

"No one’s blaming you. No one died—hell, everyone’s celebrating the payout!"

"That was just luck this time. What guarantees it’ll happen again? I’m tired—I don’t want to hurt anyone else."

"And if you leave, what guarantees you won’t be the one suffering next? People can’t live alone!"

Honestly, back then, I was past caring. I hadn’t thought beyond now.

We kept arguing, but what finally broke me was one question:

"—Then what? If you can’t survive alone, are you just going back there?!"

"…………No." Never.

I couldn’t truly live without relying on others. I’d grown strong as an adventurer, but survival alone? Impossible.

It was selfishness, plain and simple. If I really wanted to cut ties with everyone, the logical choice was to crawl back home.

But I’d rather die.

"Then you have to live with someone. And if not us—then who?"

"It’s not you guys who’re the problem. It’s me. I’m the one who’s—"

"That’s not true. I’m the one who pushed too far!"

"No! The moment I was born like this, it was already over!"

—Stop it. Please.
Leave me alone. Don’t stay close.
Don’t say things like “the two of us.” Don’t make me hope.

I was terrified. Of being forced back to that house.
Of being the reason someone died.
Of not understanding why he would go this far for me.

I was terrified.

—Terrified I’d fall for him.

Terrified to admit I could love him.

A man in my past life, reborn a woman.
Trapped by a rigid family, only to find salvation in Yus.
Then hurting him, becoming this.

I couldn’t accept being a woman. Couldn’t choose how to live. And now, trying to choose, I’d made everything worse.

Everything was terrifying.

"—Then why do you think I—?!"

Maybe he saw through me. Maybe instinct drove him.

He pulled me into a hug.

I could’ve shoved him away.

But I didn’t.

"Why do you think I’m here? Why do you think I stay with you?"

"...How the hell should I know?"

"You do know. It’s obvious, isn’t it?"

Ah—right. This happened after we thought we’d beaten that A-rank monster.
We’d let our guard down, thinking it was over.

"The reason I live is—"

—He was trying to confess. A once-in-a-lifetime moment.

But fate laughed.

As if to say: This line? You’ll never cross it.

At the very last second—

Destiny played its cruelest joke.

---

——Why did I remember that now?

Back then, we hadn’t actually defeated the A-rank monster.

It had left behind its offspring—a failsafe, a seed for the next generation in case of its death.

And it was coming for us.

Quasi-S-rank monsters are intelligent.

Just like <Nation Devourer> had precisely targeted our Leader—the command center—during battle.

Just like how this hidden passage had been so meticulously concealed.

<Nation Devourer> was hidden—to ensure it couldn’t be killed.

A final insurance, the dungeon’s true master waiting in the shadows.

Which meant… it had the intelligence to conceal things.

So then—what was the one thing <Nation Devourer> had truly wanted to hide?

Rumors said <Nation Devourer> underwent a drastic transformation mid-battle.

Was that the change in its attack patterns earlier?

No.

That couldn’t be it. That was just it shifting tactics.

But looking back, the pieces were there all along.

This dungeon’s nature—obsessed with hiding its true core.

The way <Nation Devourer>’s underlings shed their skins.

Everything should’ve pointed to the truth.

But I hadn’t realized.

No—luckily, I had realized.

As always, White Luck had guided me to the answer.

But by then—

It was too late.

Before my eyes, the still-shadowed corpse of the great serpent began to shift.

Squirming, writhing—as if shedding its skin.

No time to warn the others.

The only thing left for me to do—

Was to let myself become the unexpected prey in <Nation Devourer>’s final, desperate move—

The true change in its attack pattern.