"It's me, Aether."
Dainsleif looked at Aether, who was frozen in shock, and smiled faintly.
Inside, however, he was just as stunned.
He could feel that his new body was completely real— which meant that, in a way, he had truly become a girl.
And not only that— he realized he could freely switch between three forms:
his original self, his slime form, and this beautiful girl form.
Aether was completely dumbfounded.
Sure, Han Feng had mentioned earlier that Dainsleif could take on a girl's appearance…
but seeing it in person— seeing this blue-haired, soft-voiced, adorable girl standing before him— he simply couldn't connect her with the cold, serious man he knew.
The contrast was too much.
What's worse was…
when the blue-haired girl smiled at him, Aether's heart skipped a beat.
That realization terrified him.
He hurriedly pushed down the thought.
"No, no, no! She—no, he—is actually a man.
Don't fall for it. Don't be fooled!"
He kept repeating the warning in his mind.
Meanwhile, Dainsleif had no idea what was going through Aether's head.
He was still focused on something else.
"Boss Han, I've already transformed into this form, so why haven't I received any ability reward?"
"The longer and more accurately you play the role, the higher your chance of gaining Rimuru's powers," Han Feng explained with a smile.
"It won't happen right away."
Looking at the adorable girl before him, Han Feng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Rimuru, the "Demon Lord of Slimes," might take the form of a girl sometimes, but technically, Rimuru was genderless, just a slime with a middle-aged man's soul inside.
Dainsleif, though— he was 100% a man.
Now he just happened to have two extra transformation forms.
"Anyone who gets fooled by his appearance… that's gonna be rough,"
Han Feng thought, smirking.
Then he noticed Aether's strange, flustered expression— and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wait a second… don't tell me my brother-in-law actually fell for Dainsleif's look?!"
No way, right?
He knew Dainsleif's true identity!
Surely no man would actually—
Han Feng glanced again at the cute blue-haired girl.
...Okay, fair enough.
Rimuru was insanely cute.
He couldn't really blame Aether.
"I see,"
Dainsleif nodded after hearing the explanation.
"I was just too impatient."
Of course the ability wouldn't come so soon.
To increase his odds, he'd need to stay in character—and for a long time.
Which meant… he'd probably have to maintain this girl form pretty often in the future.
Still, since the manga shop was crowded right now, it wasn't exactly the right time to keep this form.
Thinking so, Dainsleif switched back to his original appearance.
"Aether, what's wrong?"
Dainsleif asked, noticing his distracted look.
"Ah… nothing,"
Aether quickly said, waving his hands.
Right.
This was the real Dainsleif.
Not some cute blue-haired girl.
He had to remind himself:
don't be fooled.
But still… why did part of him feel a little disappointed?
Dainsleif gave him a puzzled look but didn't think too deeply about it.
He just assumed Aether was still reeling from shock.
After all, transformation powers were pretty rare in Teyvat.
What he didn't realize… was that his "good brother" might've actually developed feelings for him.
"I treated you like a brother, and you actually… wanted to sleep with me?!"
After both received their rewards, the two didn't leave right away.
They returned to their previous seats, since they could tell something big was about to happen in the store.
The atmosphere inside the manga shop had grown tense.
People were still chatting and reading, but many were glancing discreetly toward the Fatui Harbinger La Signora
and the Doctor, Dottore.
"Looks like trouble's about to start…"
Signora muttered, frowning.
She needed to think fast.
If a fight broke out, would she side with Dottore— or pretend to know nothing?
"Hmph. A bunch of worthless weaklings."
Dottore sneered, utterly unfazed by the stares.
Why should he care about a few Knights of Favonius?
With the Tsaritsa behind him, he doubted Mondstadt would dare provoke him.
His attention was fixed on something else entirely— the manga.
Having witnessed the rewards others received, he now knew for certain:
reading these stories really did grant power.
No wonder Signora praised this place so highly.
The thought both shocked and excited him.
"This… could revolutionize my experiments," he murmured, eyes gleaming.
In Digimon Adventure, he had seen countless fascinating lifeforms— like the cybernetic Andromon, who, despite being only an "Ultimate-level" Digimon, could still fight evenly against the powerful Machinedramon.
As someone with a half-mechanical body, Dottore couldn't help but imagine—
"If I could study a being like that,
my own body could be enhanced even further…"
His eyes sparkled with scientific fervor.
Time passed.
No new customers entered; everyone seemed to sense something was brewing.
Eventually, both Signora and Dottore finished their manga.
Under the gaze of everyone in the store, they walked up to the counter.
"Boss Han," Signora asked curiously, placing the book down, "the story in Journey to the West… is it real?"
She had picked it up casually, but the tale had blown her away— its scale, its power levels, its sense of divine timelessness.
Compared to that world, Teyvat felt tiny, almost laughably small.
Even the Seven Archons were nothing but ants before those gods and immortals.
"Of course," Han Feng said with a calm smile.
"It's a story from another world."
Just then, the system message refreshed:
[Customer La Signora has finished reading Journey to the West,
and received the reward — Youth-Preserving Pill.]
[Youth-Preserving Pill: A divine elixir crafted by the Grand Supreme Elder Lord.
Once taken, it permanently halts the user's aging, allowing them to retain their current appearance forever.]
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