diymy Chapter 101: Lost Voice
Chapter 101: Lost Voice
It took some time for Kelly to come back to his senses. He felt surprised by his own bodily reactions, unable to understand what had just happened. All he knew was that Kei was standing there, trembling all over, completely terrified. It even took him a moment to realize that it was him she was so afraid of. He didn’t understand why but seeing her like that made him want to smile and reassure her. However, it felt like his face had frozen solid, his cheeks refusing to move even an inch.
’What’s going on... ahhhh... just move.’
After what felt like an entire minute of struggling, his cheeks finally twitched into what he believed was a disarming and gracious smile something gentlemanly, even charming. But to anyone actually looking at him, it was a completely different story. Only the left side of his cheek had stretched to its absolute limit, making him look less like a refined gentleman and more like some small-time thug trying to act friendly. It was far from the elegant image he had of himself. Instead of calming the situation, his little attempt did the exact opposite. Kei now felt more creeped out than afraid of him.
’Yuck, disgusting... what is he even doing?’
Perhaps it had worked better after all she was now more creeped out than scared.
That was Kei’s honest thought. Still, it did help a little, because her trembling had finally stopped. Though, for a far more dangerous reason rather than terror, she now felt pure disgust, and her expression showed it without the slightest attempt to hide it.
However, Kelly saw things very differently. Noticing that her trembling had stopped, he felt like his little trick had worked wonders. In fact, he was even a little proud of himself.
Now that Kelly had fully come back to his senses, the strange aura he had been subconsciously releasing disappeared entirely, as if it had never existed in the first place. The coldness in his eyes faded as well, returning to their usual calm and quiet depth.
Kei carefully observed all of these small changes his expression, his eyes, the oppressive feeling around him vanishing and finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Everything had returned to normal. Honestly, she felt a little astonished by how quickly it had all changed.
’This guy... does he have a split personality or something?’
Kei went as far as to mentally label Kelly as completely insane.
To her credit, though, her guess was far closer to reality than she could have ever imagined.
After taking in all the changes Kei had gone through in such a short time, Kelly finally stopped smirking, as if even that simple act of pulling his cheeks had been draining his energy. His expression returned to being ice-cold, the kind of face that looked like a mask with no emotion behind it.
It was an expression he wore so naturally that even Kelly himself didn’t realize it.
’She’s relaxed... I must have startled her.’
Looking around, Kelly slowly began taking in his surroundings, observing everything with the sharp focus of a predator. Only then did he realize just how much had changed.
He could see everything around him with unnatural clarity even the smallest cracks in the stone walls surrounding him stood out as if they were right before his eyes. Far in the corner, he noticed a spider, its tiny legs moving carefully as it weaved its web. He could even make out its many eyes fixed on its prey.
And it wasn’t just his sight. His sense of smell and hearing had expanded far beyond what he remembered. He could smell the dampness of the cave air, the cold moisture clinging to the stone, and he could hear the distant sound of water flowing somewhere deep within the cave. He was certain the river was much farther away than that.
’Woah... this is so cool. Are these the changes she mentioned? It’s even greater than the time we summoned. It feels like I can sense everything around me, like nothing can escape my awareness. Even all the level-ups I’ve gone through never brought benefits this exaggerated.’
Kelly kept looking around in quiet wonder, taking in every detail of his surroundings. Yet once again, his expression betrayed none of it. His face remained as cold and unreadable as ever, revealing nothing of the amazement he felt inside.
After some time, his gaze slowly returned to Kei. For some reason, his eyes felt warmer now at least, that was how Kei perceived them.
’I got unconscious... she must have brought me here, to this cave. At least I’m safe... who knows what would have happened if we had both stayed unconscious. And... I kind of scared her.’
As his thoughts reached that point, Kelly felt a small sense of guilt settle in his chest.
’I should apologize... for scaring her. I didn’t mean to, after all. And I should thank her too... for saving me.’
Kelly opened his mouth, ready to apologize, but much to his horror, he found that he couldn’t say it. No matter how hard he tried, the words simply wouldn’t come out.
His eyes widened in panic as a sudden thought crossed his mind, and he quickly decided to test something.
"AHHH... Hello... hmmm..."
’Hahhh... I didn’t lose my voice then.’
Kelly let out a quiet sigh of relief after proving himself wrong. At the same time, he felt another wave of embarrassment when he noticed Kei staring at him with strange eyes, clearly questioning his sanity. Ignoring her gaze, he pushed forward with his original plan. He would apologize. At least, that was the intention. But once again, to his absolute horror, he couldn’t.
No matter how much he tried to force the words out, no matter how clearly he ordered his brain to speak, nothing happened. It was as if his body itself refused to say something it considered too submissive. And so, for quite some time, he could only awkwardly open his mouth... and close it again. Over and over. Like some malfunctioning machine.
’What the fuck... just come out, damn it... what’s happening?’