"Relax? Overthinking?" He sighed.
"What’s wrong with that gothic MILF? She looked serious when she talked to me earlier."
He glanced at the river.
"I’d better just go hang out with them.
Besides, they probably won’t grab my cock so recklessly anymore—thanks to Validia."
He started walking back toward the river.
Once he got there, Livia came up to him holding a tree branch.
"Nathan, here..." she said, handing it to him.
Nathan nodded and accepted it—his pants tied to the end of the branch.
Why does this look like a national flag ceremony? he thought.
He let out a sigh. Livia smiled, then hopped away and landed on Validia’s wide thigh.
Nathan watched them for a moment, then spread his stamina robe beneath one of the Prunus Vitalis trees.
He sat down there. The branch still untouched, pants still tied like a flag.
His left leg folded up, knee forming a triangle, his left hand resting on it.
He leaned the branch against his front shoulder.
Now he looked like one of those anime MCs— the tragic type, with a heavy past, still trying to survive despite being cursed, hunted by evil spirits, and forced to carry on with life like nothing’s wrong.
For the first time, he stayed quiet without complaining about the Monster Girls’ strange behavior.
For the first time, he was hard—without feeling the urge to rub his cock against their skin.
His soul had never imagined there would come a time when erotic incongruence would slip into his morality playlist.
Time passed without a sound.
Nathan still sat beneath the tree, with his pants hanging at the tip of the branch like the imperial flag of a fallen kingdom.
The Monster Girls began to look drowsy.
Validia stood up, stretched her massive back, then slowly walked back into the forest.
Her steps were heavy, but her expression was light—like someone returning to a home that never really felt like home.
Velmora bowed politely toward Nathan from a distance, then walked along the riverbank—without a sound, like a fleeting memory refusing to stay.
Morvessa flew off, her firm pale breasts leading the way to gods-know-where.
Domina and Livia were now standing side by side.
Domina glanced at Nathan. Her eyes were half-lidded with sleepiness, yet still held that annoyingly warm expression.
"Let’s sleep," she said softly.
Livia nodded quickly.
"Yaa~ let’s go, Nathan!"
Nathan nodded but didn’t move.
He just sat still, staring at the ground in front of him.
The sky slowly shifted—not like a regular sunset, but more like a phone screen being dimmed by an unseen hand.
The night gradient felt artificial, like the world was lowering its brightness—manually.
He stood up. He looked to the branch.
His eyes landed on the pants still tied to the end of the branch.
"Pretty sure these stink..." he muttered flatly.
He took a deep breath, then whispered softly:
"Open Hunter Trade Center."
A system panel popped up before him, displaying the item list.
He went straight to [Clothing].
[Underwear - Male - Standard] = 0.26 TP
Without hesitation, he clicked Purchase.
[Shopping account not yet created...]
The system immediately popped up a new panel—for the sake of narrative continuity.
[Please enter a name:....]
[Real names not allowed, as you are a bugged hunter.]
"Fuck... but whatever. Name’s just a name. Nothing matters."
[Shopping account created. Happy shopping, ExtraKetchup!]
Without delay, he went back to the previous category and purchased the underwear.
Then his eyes caught another item.
His hand hovered over a simple but functional piece:
[Long Sport Pants - Black, with three white stripes on each side] = 0.46 TP
Nathan nodded slowly.
"Yeah... joggers might be more useful in a place this absurd."
[Ding! Purchase successful.]
Two small lights appeared in the air, slowly lowering the items before him.
Nathan reached for them.
The new underwear felt warm—either from its material or maybe because the system somehow knew exactly when a human starts feeling disgusted with himself.
The pants felt comfortable—fitting well, and weirdly... kind of stylish.
The sky was now fully nighttime.
The Monster Girls were already retreating into their den, one by one.
But Nathan didn’t move.
He stared at the tree again—
the tree that had been an altar, a witness, and been blessed by his cum.
Nathan took a deep breath.
After putting on his new underwear and the sport pants—which honestly looked more like "post-disgrace civilian uniform"—he finally closed the panel with a line that sounded like a whispered surrender.
"Close Hunter Trade Center."
The panel disappeared with a soft chime,
as if the system itself was relieved that its user finally looked clean and decently wrapped.
Nathan picked up the branch where his old pants had once dangled.
Without expression, he planted the end of it into the ground— right beside the tree where he had previously acted like a stoic figure.
Upright. Graceful. Absurd.
Like an astronaut landing on a foreign planet, staking his flag into the dirt—for the glory of his nation.
"I claim this land... in the name of the Holy Blade." he muttered flatly, trying to amuse himself.
Then he turned to his stamina robe, still neatly folded.
"I need to wash this too... just in case."
Casually, he walked toward the Prunus Vitalis tree in front of him.
He hung the robe over one of the lower branches, like a towel left to dry after a spiritual bath.
"Alright... everything’s handled."
But suddenly, Nathan turned his head with a blank expression—
his face tilted slightly, like someone who just realized they forgot something vital.
Night settled into silence.
The wind passed by without comment.
Nathan paused for a moment, then raised his hand again.
He had just remembered—he still didn’t have a shirt.
but enough to make everything feel... unfinished. Half-done.
His hand floated forward.
"Open Hunter Trade Center."