“What’s wrong?”
Is that even something you should be asking?
You’re seriously asking us what’s wrong?
Do you not know what you just did?
Other people might be clueless and still act confident…
But you? What even was that?
After a long silence, Rayleigh looked at Vir with a heavy, meaningful expression.
“Kid… I’m not as good at pretending as you are. Guess I really am getting old.”
As he spoke, he tilted his head up at a 45-degree angle, gazing at the sky.
A faint, melancholic aura emanated from him.
Honestly… he looked pretty convincing.
Vir stared at him, and something suddenly clicked in his mind.
The potion had taken effect.
But…
The side effect hadn’t kicked in yet.
He forgot to tell Old Ray about that.
Well… this was awkward.
He wasn’t sure if it had hit him yet or not.
He looked fine on the outside.
But who knew what was going on beneath the surface?
With that thought, Vir quickly spoke up. “Uh, Uncle Ray, I forgot to mention—this medicine I gave you… has a side effect.”
Everyone around them froze again.
What?
Side effect?
There’s a side effect?!
If it were any other doctor, they wouldn’t have cared much.
At most, it’d be something like “don’t eat this” or “don’t drink that”.
Or maybe just “don’t exert yourself too much”.
But with Vir…
Given what they knew about him…
If he called something a “side effect”, then it had to be something serious.
Stuff that would be considered malpractice by other doctors wouldn’t even qualify as a side effect in his book.
Rayleigh visibly tensed up again.
The earlier ordeal had done nothing to boost his tolerance for surprises.
If it was another side effect like the one from before…
Wouldn’t this old man just ascend to heaven on the spot?
Vir calmly explained, “It’s nothing serious, really. Just… a random body part might get bigger”.
He said it like it was no big deal.
Everyone looked at him like he’d lost it.
What?
A random part… gets bigger?
That’s the side effect?
What is this, a gacha draw?
Rayleigh looked completely bewildered.
What the hell?
You didn’t mention such an insane side effect earlier!
Only after the treatment?
A heads-up would’ve been nice!
What if the part that gets bigger is something like a tumor?
How is he supposed to live with that?!
It’s random! What if he gets the short end of the stick and it’s something critical?!
His expression turned more and more uneasy.
Seeing Vir’s probing gaze, Rayleigh lowered his head.
What’s he looking at?
Does this kid think it’s already started?
No way.
So far, Rayleigh hadn’t felt any changes.
“Stop staring! Nothing’s happened yet!” he grumbled, annoyed at Vir’s look.
Rayleigh was a little annoyed by Vir’s intense scrutiny.
Truth be told, he himself thought that if he really got “lucky”, it might not even be a bad side effect.
Could be a nice little bonus.
Better than nothing, right?
Vir, however, was puzzled.
It’s been so long, and it still hasn’t kicked in?
He was really looking forward to this surprise.
Might even net him a ton of negative points.
But no rush. Old Ray wasn’t going anywhere.
Just then, Vir’s gaze shifted to something in the air.
A small figure floated toward him.
Before long, Merry had settled on his shoulder again.
“How’d it go?” he asked her.
“Both Admirals looked kinda mad~ Hey, what did you do, Vir~?” Merry asked curiously.
“Didn’t do much. Just copied the old man and faked it a little. That really got to them?”
Vir shook his head, speechless.
Those two Admirals were way too petty.
So what if the mission failed and they got outplayed by their target?
Was that really a reason to get so worked up?
Vir thought smugly to himself.
“But that big sister was kind of weird~ She looked happy and upset at the same time~ Really conflicted~”
Merry tilted her head in thought.
“Happy and upset?” Vir frowned.
“Forget her. I’ve been getting a weird vibe from her for a while. She’s probably got her eyes on my disciple.”
After thinking it over, Vir came to that conclusion.
After all, Chopper did get a lot of attention from girls.
Merry nodded in agreement.
She didn’t really understand human relationships.
Couldn’t make sense of it.
Usually Merry stayed invisible—only Vir could see her now.
“Kid. When exactly is that side effect supposed to kick in? This waiting is torture for an old man like me.”
After a while with no changes, Rayleigh grew impatient.
This kind of suspense was just torture.
Might as well find a comfy spot to endure it.
He pulled over a rocking chair and sat down with a sigh.
Hearing that, Vir turned his eyes back to him.
Looking at Old Ray trying way too hard to act relaxed, he said:
“I don’t know either. This is actually the first ti—”
Vir stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes widened.
Because Rayleigh…
Was getting taller.
“…What’s wrong? Why’d you stop? Don’t leave your sentences hanging—bad luck for old guys like me!”
Rayleigh turned to look at Vir—
And saw him staring, wide-eyed.
Rayleigh suddenly realized.
It’s happening!
That look… no doubt about it!
He quickly looked down.
But was disappointed to see…
No tents had been pitched.
Then what the hell was Vir looking at?
Rayleigh glanced around, still confused.
Everyone else wore the same stunned expression as Vir.
Vir, seeing Rayleigh still clueless, facepalmed.
He strode over, grabbed Rayleigh, and yanked him to his feet!
Then shouted, “You really can’t read the room, huh?! Look behind you!”
*RIPPP!*
A sharp tearing sound echoed across the ship.
Rayleigh felt a cold breeze on his backside.
A terrible premonition gripped him.
No way!
It can’t be there!
“OH SHIT! RAYLEIGH, YOUR ASS EXPLODED!!”
Marco helpfully confirmed what Rayleigh hadn’t dared to check.
Yup.
His ass exploded.
The body part that enlarged… was his butt.
Rayleigh snapped his head around.
The sight behind him completely threw him off.
His pants…
Destroyed.
Utterly blown out.
In the instant they ripped—
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You’ve earned 288,888 negative points!]
Oh!
Here they come!
And quite a lot!
Looked like Old Ray’s exposed butt had a bigger impact than expected.
Vir nodded, satisfied.
But then…
He realized he was wrong.
Dead wrong.
Because… Rayleigh’s underwear was still intact.
It still wrapped snugly around his now-voluminous backside.
And what really stunned Vir…
Was the fact that his underwear…
Was bright red.
With lace trimming.
And worst of all…
Embroidered across the most visible spot…
Were the words:
“DO NOT ENTER”