NOVPUBNadia still stood on the bridge, feet jittering with tension as the shifting obstacle before her morphed into an even more ridiculous shape—like a cube trying to impersonate a jigsaw puzzle mid-explosion.
That was her cue. It was time.
And she couldn't believe it.
Her face scrunched into pure disbelief, her lips puckered awkwardly as she shook her head in slow horror.
『I still can't believe this…』
She pushed a tired sigh out of her lips.
"Like, how depraved do you have to be to make an acid that only melts clothes?"
Behind her, Luminyss let out a peal of delighted laughter that flew across the glass bridge—it sounded more like tinkling windchimes soaked in mischief.
"Depraved? I call it genius, darling. But, of course, you low dimensional beings will never truly appreciate brilliance when you see it."
She sighed dramatically, pressing a palm to her cheek and shrugging as if her own perfection was a burden.
Nadia blinked, jaw twitching.
"Wait… you read my mind?"
Luminyss gave her a look that screamed duh with all the subtlety of a meteor crash.
"I snapped you across the universe, babe. Mind-reading is practically the tutorial level."
"But—"
Nadia started, only for Luminyss to cut her off by pointing at the obstacle.
"Time's up. Slip through… or admit your loss."
She spoke with a smile that held sadism and satisfaction in equal parts.
Nadia turned her attention back to the block.
It twisted like it had a grudge against physics and confidence alike. The shapes were so tight, so impossible, it was obvious: Luminyss wanted her clothes off.
Her teeth clenched into a warped smile—white, awkward, and scared. She took a few shaky steps back, arms stiff at her sides.
"Uhm… can't I get, like, a simpler one?"
She said with a dry laugh that even she didn't believe.
Luminyss rolled her eyes with the force of a disappointed deity.
"Oh please. All you have to do is take off your clothes. It's that easy. Why can't you do it?"
"BECAUSE!"
Nadia suddenly shouted, throwing her arms out.
"It's against my beliefs, okay?! I'm not doing that!"
She took even more steps back, almost tripping over her own boots.
Her panic was loud and clear.
Watching from the side, Scott was quiet… but his face was rigid and bothered.
"Man… I really didn't want to get any deeper into this."
His fists went tight.
"Emma's already pissed about my whole thing with Nadia, and now this… I just…"
His jaw clenched.
"I… sigh~ I don't want Nadia taking her clothes off for anyone to see… and I'm not about to let her stand there humiliated while I look away pretending it's fine."
His fists tightened.
"This is wrong."
Then he lifted his head sharply.
"I'd like to use a help-out!"
The declaration stunned the arena.
Nadia and Miss Mercury both whipped their heads in his direction.
The awkwardness practically gained weight.
Scott refused to meet Nadia's eyes.
"I want to use a help-out to give Nadia a hand!"
"No—NO!"
Nadia panicked instantly.
She quickly looked at Miss Mercury's blank face and began waving her hands in wild denial.
"UHHHH—UHM! HE DOESN'T HAVE TO DO THAT, OKAY?! REALLY! LIKE REALLY!"
Each word came with another nervous glance at her friend… but Mercury's face didn't change.
Nadia slouched. "Oh… I'm so dead."
She didn't want Scott to help her.
Not like this. Not when she knew it would only tear more space between her and Emma.
Luminyss lifted a brow, then held up two fingers.
"You'll only have two left after this."
She was clearly annoyed he was going to use it now.
"Sure you wanna burn it now?"
Scott nodded without hesitation.
"System, summon an AES for Nadia."
[Affirmative.]
[Deploying Agility Enhancement Suit…]
A burst of brilliant blue light engulfed Nadia.
When it faded, gasps rippled through the crowd.
Nadia now stood clad in a sleek, cutting-edge black and ash suit. Blue neon lines ran along her form, connecting smooth ash discs at her joints and a larger one on her back.
Energy hummed softly around her.
Nadia stared at herself.
"Whoa… I feel so light."
She crouched.
—BZZZZ!!
The discs glowed with surging light.
Then—BOOM.
She launched. Like a cannonball kissed by grace, Nadia flew clean over the planet's atmosphere, twisting mid-air with a dancer's fluidity. She touched down with elegance, barely making a sound.
A few ladies in the crowd murmured, "Woah…"
Miss Mercury's arms were crossed tight as she looked away with a pout.
"Hmph! He never made any enhancements to my super suit. Didn't even give me one. Jerk."
She kept her eyes shut, sulking harder than the sun.
Off to the side, Rope Girl tilted her head.
"How is he even able to do that? He's supposed to be just a regular human."
Witch smiled knowingly.
"Mhm. Almost like he has a su—"
Before she could make any conclusions, Vixen suddenly cut in, stepping between Witch and Rope Girl like her life depended on it.
"UHHHM! That blue alien chick, right? Haha, yeah! YEAH! Remember? She can do crazy stuff. Scott probably just… thought it, and she manifested it! Totally normal! So… you don't… need to think hard about it!"
Rope Girl stared.
"… That's a very powerful ability."
She narrowed her eyes cautiously.
"But not illogical… for her."
"YES!" Vixen snapped her fingers.
Sniperess narrowed her eyes.
"Why are you so eager to clarify?"
Vixen's head already had an answer.
『Because if all of you bloodthirsty women think he's hiding an unregistered ability, he's as good as dissected. I know, I know, I should be mad at him… like he didn't even call after all my 86 texts. Honestly, that guy—』
She blinked.
"Huh…?"
Realized she was still standing there.
Then cleared her throat and blurted.
"Uhm… nuts?"
Sniperess raised a brow. "Excuse me—nuts?"
No answer. Vixen sped back to her sister's side, wiping sweat from her brow.
"Safe…"
"AND NADIA ADVANCES!"
Everyone turned to see her already standing next to Miss Mercury and the others.
Rope Girl blinked. "Wait, when did she—?"
Lady Fortress answered smoothly.
"It was fast… but only for humans. That suit Mael gave her seems to enhance speed and agility to superhuman levels. She practically danced through."
Rope Girl narrowed her eyes, but Lady Fortress wasn't really listening anymore.
She was watching Scott with soft admiration.
『As expected… always putting others first, even if it hurts him. Reminds me of Father… I really miss him. Maybe I'll visit after this. My people… maybe they could learn from Mael… I mean, uhm, Scott. If we were somehow to understand how emotions worked, we could abandon the mentality of putting duty over feelings.』
Her eyes hadn't left him.
『But… who knows… it might fail…』
She tilted her head with a gentle smile.
･･･
The next contestants came and went.
Fortress and Pulsar zipped through without resistance.
Foxgirl, Witch, Vixen, Sniperess, and Deathmark all simply took off their clothes to slip through their challenges like they were born for it.
Then there was Judy Cho.
She never looked up from her phone.
Her eyes blazed with journalistic passion.
Her smile was giddy, locked in whatever report she was crafting for her next article.
Luminyss stared with growing disappointment.
"Judy Cho… not even trying…"
SNAP.
Judy vanished and reappeared in the goo pool.
"KYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
She screamed as her outfit fizzled away.
Scott groaned and palmed his face.
"I could've helped her, but like… what's the point…? She's probably not even gonna try. Besides, she's still mad about Ezel and Shadow kissing. Ugh… such a mess…"
He looked ready to collapse. But he didn't.
Because up next… was Rope Girl.
Scott's eyes narrowed.
『Her…』
Rope Girl walked up to the bridge with a calm face.
The light shimmered across her skin-tight suit as she started stretching her arms slowly, like a feline predator limbering up before a hunt. Her vixen eyes locked on the incoming obstacle to analyze its complex structure.
Scott leaned back slightly in his throne, eyes following her with a scrutiny that wasn't lost on anyone.
From the way the fabric of her suit clung to her toned body to the subtle plating adjustments around her thighs and calves, he could tell—she'd made changes. The suit was still dangerously tight, still criminally distracting. But if you knew anything about Rope Girl, you'd know the suit wasn't just for show.
It was tactical. Psychological warfare.
And it worked. It always worked.
She'd even turned it into a team policy.
A tight-suit-only rule for her squad.
No complaints there—her girls were killers, not nuns, and if flashing a little skin earned them even a second of hesitation from the enemy, they'd milk it.
Victory first, modesty somewhere around eighth place.
Scott's eyes drifted as he thought—then caught himself.
There were exceptions.
Like Deathmark… she was a little too comfortable.
Shameless, even.
She'd do stuff like grope his butt in narrow corridors and act like it was normal… or poke the outline of his butthole with her finger whenever she got the chance.
She didn't even blush.
Scott couldn't call her a pervert, but if she ever decided to go full throttle, he was pretty sure she'd redefine what "inappropriate" meant.
But then he remembered something about Rope Girl.
『Zoe Kingston…』
The Mantis Tower.
A rare moment. Her in civilian clothes. Vulnerable.
He'd touched her—accidentally.
It was nothing… barely even a graze.
Yet the look on her face had haunted him ever since.
Not anger. Not outrage. Just… trauma. Confusion.
A memory that didn't belong to a woman like her.
Scott blinked.
He didn't realize he was staring at Rope Girl—until she looked up and shot him a glare that could've frozen blood.
He flinched back in his throne.
"Uhm—"
"You've always been shameless, McQueen…"
She spoke out of nowhere.
Her voice was colder than steel in winter.
"But honestly… watching me so eagerly while I get naked? That's a new low."
His eyes widened.
"What?! No, no, no—don't even try to pull that card on me right now!"
She didn't respond. Just stared.
Up on the sidelines, Dark Elf munched her chips lazily, standing next to Gwen.
"Mmm, I'd like to see her naked too…"
She said in the flattest voice imaginable.
Gwen squinted. "Wait, what? Why?"
Without hesitation, Dark Elf pulled up her oversized hoodie to expose her lean waist and wide, powerful hips. A jagged scar trailed along her abs like lightning in skin.
"Want to see if she's got a cooler scar than me. It's a Black Stone thing."
Gwen blinked. "Black Stone? What's that?"
Dark Elf shrugged as her hoodie fell back down.
"Nothing important."
She went right back to eating, chips crunching.
Meanwhile, Luminyss snapped her fingers.
A glowing flag popped into existence, emblazoned with Rope Girl's stylized face.
Clones of Luminyss in glittering cheerleader outfits spawned instantly, waving pompoms as they danced.
They chanted…
"Let's go! Let's go! Rope Girl, you can do it!"
From the side of the bridge, a twisted, rotating block with shifting slots and hidden traps slid into motion.
It was meant to be near-impossible.
For anyone else, maybe.
For Rope Girl? Child's play.
But she knew the trick: to get through the tightest section, you had to shed most of your clothing or be strong enough to power through the trap it triggered right after.
Her finger hovered over the button at the back of her suit's collar.
Press it, and the suit would retract.
Leave her in just her undergarments.
But…
『My underwear…?』
She hesitated. Since her time in the military, modesty had been irrelevant. She could walk naked through a war zone filled with thirsty men and not flinch.
But now… now her finger wouldn't move.
Her body stiffened.
『What's wrong…』
Her fingers trembled slightly.
Across the bridge, Witch tilted her head.
"Is she… taking longer than expected?"
Sniperess frowned.
"Actually… yeah. She should've stripped and breezed through that already."
Chewing thoughtfully on a lollipop, Deathmark added…
"Weird for the boss…"
Witch gave a knowing smile. "Is it, though?"
Still frozen, Rope Girl looked at the oncoming block. Her finger pushed against the button again—and again, it didn't move.
She wasn't panicking. Really.
Her face remained blank, cold as always. But inside?
『Why can't I move?』
『Why do I feel… uncomfortable?』
『Ashamed? That's not even…』
Her eyes drifted again to the throne. To him.
"Can you just…" she said softly.
Scott blinked. "Huh?"
Her voice trembled—just barely.
"Can you just… look away?"
The silence that followed was loud.
Sniperess's eyes widened.
"Did… did she just say that?"
Witch nodded slowly, but in an oddly adorable way.
"She did. Intriguing, isn't it?"
"Super weird…" Sniperess muttered.
The block got closer.
Rope Girl stared at it, then at Scott. Then back.
Then clenched her fists.
"Fuck this."
She bolted. Like a blur.
At the last second, she dove through the tiniest gap in the block as her body — and even her wide hips — folded like liquid through the impossible angle. As soon as she landed, the trap activated—tentacles of energy whipped toward her with vicious speed.
──SWOOOOOSSHHH!!
But she twisted, weaved, ducked, danced through them like silk on fire.
And just like that—she was through.
Straight into the winner's box.
"YES! THAT'S MY BOSS RIGHT THERE!!"
Deathmark shot up, clapping with a grin like a maniac.
"NOOOO!"
Luminyss groaned.
"I wanted to see her naked!"
She pouted, arms crossed, and turned to the remaining contestants.
Still too many left.
She faced one of the camera drones and beamed.
"Alright, everyone! Next challenge is a classic—capture the flag! Hopefully, we can eliminate some of these unworthy ladies from Scott McQueen's exciting love life!"
Scott groaned. "Or… they could just not do it?"
Luminyss tapped her chin theatrically.
"Hmm… but that's dumb, don't you think?"
"NO!" Scott snapped back.
Luminyss grinned wickedly and spoke into his mind.
『You're an interesting fellow, Scott. But… whether you like it or not, all these beautiful, quirky women will be part of your story. You can consider me… divine intervention. A harem is inevitable.』
Scott blinked. "Huh?!"
