"Take your clothes off."
"Gasp! Hey old man, I'm not gay!" Kai panicked and stepped back.
"Gay my ass, I'm just checking your body again. Do you think I'm thirsting for you or something?"
"Ohhh, is that so? Why didn't you say so earlier then?"
Kai stripped off his clothes, revealing extremely well-defined, massive muscles.
"You on steroids or what??" The doctor blinked repeatedly while staring at Kai's muscles.
"Hehe, dear doctor, steroids can't compare to Spinach, you know? Eat it and you get nutrition, it's healthy, one punch and even Bluto would be scared shitless."
"Shut up already. I'm a doctor, you think I don't know what spinach does? But seriously, how much did you eat to turn your body into a bodybuilder's? Before this you looked like a stick."
Go ask Pandora. She suddenly remembered the Popeye cartoon from my memories, so now she makes me eat it every single day.
Oh, speaking of which…
"Pandora is still at the vet, right?"
"Yeah. But how the hell did you raise her? She's basically dominating the place now, riding on everyone's necks like the big boss. All the other animals are terrified of her."
…Qualities of a future evil god?
"Hm? This is…" The doctor stared for a while before finally noticing something strange.
The octopus tattoo right on my back — four tentacles. The two upper ones stretch toward my chest near the collarbone, while the two lower ones sit right beside my abs.
It's pretty big, yet he only noticed it now?
"This tattoo… It looks a bit like Baron Libert's."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Call him in here. There's something about these tattoos that even I don't fully understand."
"Oh…"
A moment later, Baron entered the room.
"Hm? You have a Mark too?"
"A Mark?"
Seeing Kai completely confused, Baron took off his own shirt, revealing a glowing blue tattoo that somewhat resembled a bird.
"This is a Mark. You probably saw it during the fights with Irelia or Gerda or whoever. Basically, a Mark is when a god (or someone with divinity) takes notice of you and grants you a portion of their power. Demigods or anyone with divinity can do it, but the quality obviously won't be as good as from a real god."
Oh? That's actually pretty good then. Pandora is a creation of a god, she herself represents calamity and the power of curses.
Unfortunately she only has divinity; she hasn't fully become a god or even a demigod.
"Usually when you have a Mark, your power related to that god becomes much stronger. Like my lightning, for example."
No wonder Baron could spam lightning like crazy and still last so long, the Mark was boosting him at full power.
"But this Mark… Don't tell me your pet has something to do with a god?"
"Yeah. Even though it's not a real god, just carrying divinity, I don't mind."
Then Baron glanced at Kai's abs.
"Uh… Nice muscle."
"No need to compliment me."
Right after Baron left, the doctor finished checking and confirmed Kai was completely fine with no lasting damage. He told Kai he could return to the ward.
Tomorrow he'd be discharged. Kai only had temporary blindness in his left eye; everything else was fine.
…Hm, why does that sound wrong? Whatever.
Because Baron and Aura came from noble families, they received better treatment and were also about to be discharged soon.
Vokath was like a monster — his recovery was slower than Kai's but still impressive. He qualified to leave at the same time as Kai.
Only Reito, Abaric, Gerda, Kanna, and Violet were staying longer.
Violet still showed no signs of waking up. Kai was starting to get worried about her.
"Yosh, I'm back~" Kai opened the door and greeted everyone.
"How'd it go?" Aura glanced over while holding a book.
"Fine. Eye's showing signs of recovery, body's good. The only problem I have right now is curiosity about what book you're reading."
"School textbook. Class S has daily quizzes to check if we remember anything. I missed several days, so I'll probably get hit with a makeup test dump the day I return."
"Oh… poor you."
"It's fine, this stuff is easy."
Easy?? Even I get a headache reading that crap. Truly the difference between Class S and Class F.
"Kai-nii! Come play!" Reito waved enthusiastically toward Kai.
Kai walked over and saw everyone playing Uno. Kanna was suffering with a massive hand of 34 cards.
"+4" Baron dropped a card.
"Another +4" Abaric followed.
"Yet another +4" Reito placed his.
All three turned to look at Kanna.
"…"
34 cards… and not even one +4 to fight back…
Poor Kanna turned to Kai with big puppy eyes, silently begging for help.
"Sorry, I don't know how to play, and I don't know how to raise dogs either."
"I'm not a dog!!" Kanna's face turned red.
"I just said I don't know how to raise dogs? Why are you suddenly saying weird stuff?" Kai scratched his head, looking at her.
Oh shit, she's about to cry. Those three bullied her, and now I accidentally landed the finishing blow.
"You're not joining?" Vokath's wife asked.
"Nah, I don't play kids' games. I only wanna play with you~"
"Oh my god! You're terrible~" She blushed and immediately jabbed both fingers into Vokath's eyes.
A very masculine scream echoed from Vokath, but nobody really cared.
"…Hm?" Kai glanced toward the corner and saw Gerda sitting on her bed, deep in thought.
Ever since they explained everything clearly to her, she'd been like this. Even after Tyler and Rocker left, she stayed the same.
No other choice — Kai walked over to check on her.
"What's wrong? Still can't accept the truth or something?" Kai sat on the edge of her bed and asked.
"Ah… it's nothing, just…"
"Just?"
"Just… the other me doesn't seem like a very nice person, does she?"
She's not sad about being transported to a strange place, instead she feels guilty about what her other self did here?
I have to comfort her. After all, they're different people. Same name, same skills, same scent, but different.
"Yeah, she wasn't nice at all. Hired me and didn't pay me a single coin in the end. Meanwhile Vokath paid generously. Incredibly unfair."
"I know you're not talking about me, but it still hurts more than I expected."
"Yeah, you two are different. No need to feel guilty."
"You say that easily…" Gerda still looked lost in thought.
"Ugh, fine. Let me ask you this, what do you think about other me, I mean your Kai?"
"Cunning, likes flipping girls' skirts, lowly, perverted, kills the neighbor's pigs, pushes old ladies into ponds, digs up graves, stalker, show-off, likes peeping at girls bathing, and loves getting blowjobs."
I'm definitely going to kill that bastard. I refuse to accept sharing a name with that piece of shit.
"Ahem… What about me then?"
"You… are handsome, bigger… and more upright?"
"Mhm mhm, what else?" Kai leaned in eagerly, smiling with satisfaction.
"And… a hardcore sis/brocon who wears Hello Kitty panties with an iron will?"
"What the hell am I in your eyes?!"
Gerda suddenly burst into bright laughter — probably the happiest she'd looked in a long time.
"You're right. The Kai you know and the Kai I know are completely different. Maybe you're correct, I don't need to feel guilty about things I didn't do."
Solved already? That was quick. I thought it would take a few more chapters.
"If that's the case then good—"
"Chiiii…" Kanna's eyes widened as she stared at Kai and Gerda.
"…Kanna, they're about to drop another +4. Don't zone out." Kai said loudly, startling Kanna back into the game.
Then Kai stood up, patted Gerda's head once, making her flinch a little.
"Anyway, if you want to ask anything or need someone to talk to, just call me. Even if I'm not the Kai you knew, Gerda still can't be without a Kai, right?"
"…Mm."
"Alright then. It's getting late, time to sleep."
Gerda touched her head, watching Kai return to his bed. He turned around, flexed his ass and showed off his muscles toward Aura — only to get hit with one line from her that instantly depressed him. He pulled the blanket over and went straight to sleep.
They really are different… but this Kai is the same as that Kai in one way: he's willing to stay by her side.
***
"Hmm…"
A girl was perched on a tree branch, watching someone while everyone else had gone to sleep.
Her stomach growled, making her expression sour. She rummaged through her food pouch.
Three cockroaches.
"Nutritious dinner… The cult doesn't always have money. Gotta endure."
She skewered one cockroach with a sharp stick, created a small flame, and held it near to roast.
"Later I'll eat it with wild greens. Wild greens have fiber — delicious, nutritious, and cheap."
She kept convincing herself. Drool started dripping from her mouth.
"Can't wait anymore!"
Then a hand suddenly reached out from nowhere and snatched the roasted cockroach.
"?!"
She jerked back and looked at the thief who stole her dinner.
"Wow, childhood food. Memories are flooding back."
It was the person she had been following, Kai.