Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 95

"My Lord, Lord Graffni’s family has been waiting since this afternoon. They insist there must be some serious misunderstanding and are requesting to see you in person to explain... What should I tell them...?"

Botello’s voice trailed off awkwardly, clearly worn out from dealing with them. Ayra, utterly exhausted after wandering the city all day for quest grinding until her feet were shredded, glanced out the window. Whether it was a massive family or relatives tagging along, a whole group of pink-haired people were loitering at the front gate, waiting. Too tired to deal with them, Ayra waved her hand.

"Tell them to come back another time."

"Yes, My Lord."

A while later, Graffni’s family slumped away, shoulders drooped. Watching them go, Ayra let out a deep sigh and dragged her feet to the bath. After washing up and collapsing onto her bed, she forced her heavy eyelids open and brought up the map window.

"When is he coming back?"

Janus was still outside of Solar. Out of sight, out of mind—Ayra was starting to worry that Janus’s Favorability stat might drop. After a moment of hesitation, she summoned her pebble. The poor thing, exhausted whenever its master was, wriggled out onto her hand like an overcooked, soggy rice cake.

"My sweet little pebble..."

As Ayra gently stroked it, hearts fluttered across the pebble’s squishy body—until it seemed to sense her intent and shrank into a little ball. Ayra ignored its reluctance and murmured sweetly.

"Could you do me a favor, sweetheart? I’d like to visit my lover’s dream..."

The last time she linked with Janus in Bolni, the dream had clearly drawn from Ayra’s own memories. Then, could she enter his dreams this time? Since dreams reflect the unconscious, maybe she’d get a sense of what was in Janus’s heart. And hey, if it boosted Favorability too, that’d be great.

But the pebble resisted harder than expected.

[Target is too far away—high risk of failure! :( ]

[This task will consume double the usual mana!]

[Warning: Due to mental incompatibility, risk of psychological damage is HIGH! X0]

That “mental incompatibility” was exactly what Ayra wanted to understand. Of course, she knew this would be much harder than last time. So she pulled out a trump card from her subspace: a very expensive magic amplifier that increased range and intensity. It had limited uses, so she’d been saving it. After coaxing the pebble with both equipment and sweet-talk, she finally persuaded it.

Even while exhausted, Ayra placed the amplifier beside her pillow and pressed the sulky pebble to her forehead. She yawned a few times—and promptly slipped into deep sleep.

Just the thought of seeing Janus again after so long made her a little happy...

A deep heartbeat echoed as Ayra looked around.

The area was dim, surrounded by nothing but jagged ridges—it was hard to tell exactly where she was. As she stumbled forward, she tripped over a rock and fell. Groaning, she looked up to see countless stars glittering across the night sky.

Her shoes were gone. Grass and damp mud squelched under her bare feet. The air was humid and warm, just like the maze—bringing with it a strange sense of nostalgia. Dusting off her knees, Ayra resumed walking. There was work to do—she needed to return to the castle.

‘Wait... Isn’t Janus somewhere around here?’

The thought appeared without reason, prompting her to stop and scan her surroundings again. That’s when she realized—the massive mountain range she was looking at was the Rehzedet Range. The same range she used to see every day from the maze...

And when she listened closely, she realized the sound she’d thought was a heartbeat was actually the mountain range itself, pulsing with a deep, droning hum.

How could mountains make such a sound?

Instinctively, Ayra used magic. Fzzzzzzt—with the crackle of fireworks, a light spell shot into the air, illuminating the surroundings.

That was when she saw it.

"Aah...!"

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

At first, she thought it was part of the mountains—but no. Its body was just so colossal that it seemed like part of the mountains. Floating high in the sky, multiple pairs of eyes all turned downward. They were staring directly at «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» her.

Startled, she quickly canceled the light spell, but the creature’s red, light-filled eyes continued to glow in the darkness.

Thump... thump... thump...

It began approaching, shaking the world with each step. The ground trembled underfoot, and the mountains crumbled, spilling rocks like sand.

Ayra.

A whisper echoed—then became a thunderous laugh that shook the entire mountain range. It wasn’t so much laughter as it was the roaring crash of thunder from every direction.

‘What the hell is this thing...?!’

A chill swept down her spine, cold sweat dripping. Whatever it was, it was an absolute disaster-level being—far beyond her ability to handle. Ayra turned and ran without looking back. But a massive tail crashed down from the sky, trapping her in a circular prison.

As she looked up in panic, a single red eye—long and slit like a lizard’s—floated above her like a dim, hellish lamp.

All the fine hairs on her body stood up. She felt like a tiny mouse before a massive serpent. The creature was the ultimate predator, the natural enemy of humankind. One by one, those red eyes passed over her, leaving reddish trails in the dark, scanning her from above.

Rumble...

The land began to rise and fall—mountains caved in, plains heaved upward, and ridges formed. The entire terrain was morphing above her head. She tried to use magic, but nothing came out.

Backing away, she hit a wall of jagged stone. The enormous creature’s red eyes shimmered—then it slowly opened its massive maw, lined with rows of sharp teeth. A hot, wet tongue slithered out and dragged itself across her body, then gulp—Ayra was swallowed whole.

She slid down a slick throat, landing with a heavy thud in a hot, misty stomach. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. Powerless, she fell deeper and deeper. The space was dark, cozy, filled with the smell of grass and earth.

Disoriented, her body was suddenly squeezed tightly from all sides. At first, she thought it was digestive fluid—but no. Something rough was burrowing inside her. As she moaned in pain, the motion softened, coaxing instead of hurting. And soon, alongside the pain came... a strange, incomprehensible pleasure.

With a satisfied chuckle, Ayra was pushed even deeper—until she completely lost consciousness.

She felt as though she were being utterly consumed. And oddly, that wasn’t even the scariest part...

Hide well—your hair might show.

Murmuring that phrase, Ayra suddenly jolted awake with a gasp. As he shot upright, the pebble that had been stuck to his forehead peeled off and fluttered gently down.

He caught the exhausted pebble in both hands and looked around—it was early morning.

It had felt like such a short dream, yet an entire night had passed. His whole body felt like he’d sprinted a marathon.

"Was that... just a nightmare?"

But for a nightmare, the sensations had been disturbingly vivid—the huge tongue licking him, the hot, squirming throat...

Ayra, too drained to make sense of it, tucked the limp pebble back into his body. As he was about to lie down again, a notification popped up.

[Janus Rehzedet’s Favorability has increased by 3!]

Current Favorability: 10♡

❄

"Well... I guess the dream paid off."

Ayra muttered with a sour expression, glancing at the map window. After days of not budging from Bolni, Janus’s red dot was finally blinking—and rapidly moving toward Solar. At that speed, he’d arrive today or tomorrow.

But Ayra didn’t look happy. His face was clouded, unsettled.

Janus had never gained that much Favorability in one go before. A single dream had earned 3 points—it was a windfall. But Ayra couldn’t feel good about it, because the dream itself had been just so bizarre. He’d expected something erotic or maybe a little BDSM—not cannibalism.

And besides being eaten alive, he could barely remember anything else.

"Aaah...! I think I saw Janus’s true form in the dream—but I can’t remember!"

Groaning, Ayra clutched his head, ruining the silver hair that Botello carefully styled every morning.

It’s said that dragons usually take on human form—but according to the rare survivors who faced one in battle, dragons had a separate "true form." Yet when Ayra gathered their testimonies, the descriptions never matched. The only consistent detail? Their immense size.

He thought about asking Janus to show his true form... but then remembered being swallowed whole in the dream and shuddered.

Still, it wasn’t like he could experience being devoured by a ma-beast any other way. And honestly... the sensation of being eaten hadn’t been all bad.

"No, no. I like ma-beasts and all, but let’s not go that far. Saying I enjoyed being eaten—what kind of pervert does that make me...?"

He definitely didn’t want to be on the same level as a twisted dragon who had a dream about eating their lover and still gained 3 points of Favorability.

Trying to shake off the thought, Ayra glanced over the map window one last time—then froze.

"What the hell is that?"