"...you look a hot mess," Ino muttered as I had finally managed to stumble out of the curtain which served as the door.

My shirt was unbuttoned, revealing my perfectly defined abs and my messy hair, which had now grown considerably past my shoulders, fell limply over my eyes and stuck out at odd angles elsewhere.

Ino stared at me for a long, silent moment.

I don't know if it's because of the effect of my hangover, but I was definitely sure I could see her cheeks flush red as she quickly averted her gaze and cleared her throat.

"Just how much did you drink?"

I tried to take my hair off my eyes, then mumbled, "Even I don't know, to be honest."

I then squinted as I looked towards the direction of the general area and asked, "Did you say Leon was looking for me?"

"Yeah." Ino turned around and began moving. "He's in the common room."

Hmm…

'Why is the mc suddenly looking for me?'

I trudged behind her until we reached the common room, where I could see Leon standing with his back to us.

When he heard us approaching, he turned around and a big smile spread across his face.

"Ahh… there you are, my masochistic friend!"

As he spoke in his booming voice, I clutched my head and groaned. "Ah, gosh. You are so loud, geez."

Leon chuckled.

There were upturned wooden crates in the common room that we had made as makeshift chairs.

"It's really nice to see you again. How have you been?" Leon asked, walking closer to one.

"I'm alive." I muttered, as I dropped onto a crate and rested my elbows on my knees.

"Really? That's good to know. Though I must say you look like something the cat dragged in, then decided it didn't want."

"And you look like you've got far too much energy for this time of day," I retorted, wincing as the light from the open door caught me right in the eyes. "What the hell do you want, Leon?"

Leon stared at me with the same smile for a moment.

Then suddenly, his smile vanished and his jovial demeanor changed to one of cold, sharp focus.

He leaned forward and began in a serious tone. "I'll get straight to the point, Cedric. I want to join your party."

When I heard that, my eyes widened and I arched a brow in disbelief.

"What did you say?"

***

Elsewhere…

Rain fell heavily around a massive obsidian castle, and the crack of lightning kept echoing through the halls.

Inside one of the castle's large rooms, a lean, handsome figure with pale skin and short black hair suddenly bolted upright, waking from his sleep as if he had just had a terrible nightmare.

The man rubbed his face with both hands and sighed.

For a long moment, he did nothing and just sat on the bed, looking lost in thought. Eventually, he reached to the side where a blue inventory opened up for him, then he dipped his hand in and pulled out a small picture.

It was a picture of him beside a woman who was cuddling a child.

…It was a picture of his family.

Lee Lim stared at the photo for a long moment, until tears began to drop onto the surface of the image. At that moment, a knock echoed against the door to his room.

Lee Lim slowly turned to look at the large closed doors, then he returned his gaze to the picture and wiped the tears from the glossy surface with his thumb.

He quickly tucked the photo back into his inventory and the blue light flickered for only a second before it vanished.

Then he sighed again, and after wiping the tears in his eyes, he finally responded. "Come in."

The large doors creaked and made a lot of noise as they were pushed open. Then, a figure slithered politely into the room.

The beautiful female creature was partly humanoid with a lithe, athletic upper body, while from the waist down, her form transitioned into the long, powerful body of a snake.

Her obsidian skin was covered in glossy, ink-black scales that seemed to swallow the light of the room, save for a faint shimmer of emerald whenever she moved.

She had long, flowing white hair that cascaded down her back, and her slanted, slit-pupiled eyes glowed with a soft, amber light.

Her upper body was covered with carefully cut animal hide, granting her that beautiful yet dangerous allure.

Despite her graceful and dangerous nature, she seemed to really tense and shiver in Lee Lim's presence.

The naga stopped some meters from his bed, then lowered her entire upper torso and greeted him in a low, melodic voice.

"My lord…"

Lee Lim turned to her and an expression of disgust ran across his face. "What is it?!"

The naga trembled at his harsh, cold voice. Then she quickly spoke. "T-the other lords have all gathered in the Grand Hall. They are all waiting for you, my lord."

Lee Lim looked away and after being quiet for a long moment, he heaved himself off the bed and began walking out of the room.

He was only wearing his sleeping robes and was barefoot, but he didn't seem to care.

The female naga slithered on behind him, her scales hissing softly against the polished floor. Although she kept her distance as Lee Lim did not like any of her kind really close to him.

As they both moved along the large hallway leading to the grand hall, a flash of lightning streaked across the rainy sky. Its violent white light poured in through the high windows and illuminated the dark obsidian walls for a split second.

The loud thunder that followed suddenly caused Lee Lim to halt.

Even though he tried to hide it, his body was not feeling too great. When that thunder struck, his entire body felt like it was cracking and blood even began to drip from his nose.

'It's been more than a month since I moved that damn bridge, and yet I'm still suffering the causal backlash,' he thought, raising a hand to wipe away the blood.

He turned to look out the window by his side. Then he tilted his head back tiredly and exhaled.

"Admin Privileges…"

Instantly, a notification that only he could see appeared for him:

[Activating Admin Privileges…]

In the same bored voice, Lee Lim muttered, "Stop this rain…"

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