Beautiful

After the sound wave hit Gen and Lina, the huge frejar went towards where they were, but upon arriving, realized that there was nothing there.

It then looked around for a while, but after a few seconds, it heard the cry of the fast frejar. It then howled, went towards it, picked it up with his mouth, and started to walk away.

Meanwhile, Raja had already killed the three red diamond frejars who were fighting Stanley and was now helping the guild leader to finish the two red diamond frejars and the awakened frejar.

He was about to kill a red diamond frejar when suddenly he heard a thunderous roar from the direction where Gen and Lina were. He looked over, and then suddenly, the frejars started running in that direction.

Raja then thought, 'That's the direction Gen went. I wonder if something happened! I better go there and check it out.'

Raja was about to go in that direction when suddenly, a few feet away from him, he saw two hugging people appearing out of nowhere. He then looked in their direction and saw that it was Gen and Lina.

He then walked over to them and said, "Look at that. Here I am, worried about you, and you're hugging each other, enjoying the moment."

And Lina said, "I'm not the one who hugged him! Gen pulled me out of nowhere and started hugging me!"

"It doesn't look like you are bothered by it, hahaha."

"Of course I am. Gen, we're out of there, now let go of me!", but Gen didn't respond, and realizing this, Lina asked, "Hey Gen! Are you deaf?"

Lina pushed him away from her, and Gen then fell backward onto the ground.

Lina was startled by this and asked, "Hey Gen, what happened? I didn't push you that hard."

She then walked over to him, and Raja also walked over to her and said, "Hey, Lina, what's the need for you to knock him down? It was just a hug."

"I didn't knock him down on purpose. He shouldn't have fallen with the force that I put on him. Something is wrong."

The two then approached Gen, and they realized that he had passed out.

Raja then ran towards him and said, "Hey, Lina, what happened to him? Why is he passed out?"

"I don't know. Maybe he suddenly fainted from using his essence so much. He told me he was going to use all the energy he had to get us out of there."

"Well, let's go then. Let me get him."

Raja then reached over to pick Gen up on his lap, and as he touched Gen's back, he felt a wet sensation and then said, "Hmm? What is that?"

He then looked at Gen's back and said, "Lina! What happened?!"

And Lina said, "What are you talking about?"

"Look at Gen's back, he's bleeding!"

"What?! How is that possible?! He didn't take ... oh no! It must have been when we ran away! That's why he hugged me! That idiot! I didn't ask him to do anything like that, and besides, if anyone was going to take the hit, it should have been me who can use resilience!"

"Why did you have to run away? Were the two frejars that were with you that strong?"

"That wasn't the problem, what happened was ...", and Lina then began to explain what happened.

Raja then said, "I get it. He must have received the blow the moment you guys left. Lucky for him, he didn't receive the whole blow. Otherwise, he would be in a critical situation right now."

And Lina said, "This idiot! If I had taken the blow instead of him, no one would have been hurt."

"Don't blame him, Lina. It was obvious Gen wouldn't let you take the hit."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's simple: Gen would never let a friend of his get hurt while knowing he can do something to prevent it. Even more so being a beautiful woman like you, hahaha."

"What does me, being beautiful, have to do with it? As far as I know, who is really beautiful is my mother. I am at most above average."

"What? Are you crazy, Lina?!"

Lina was startled and said, "What? I'm just telling the truth, or do you think I'm prettier than my mother?"

"Of course not. Miss Anna is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life."

"There you go, you just proved my point."

"Lina, can I ask you something real quick?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"No offense, but are you dumb, or are you just pretending?"

"What?! What do you mean dumb?!"

"Look here, Lina. Just because your mother is a goddess who came from heaven to our mortal realm to grace us with her beauty, that doesn't mean you are not beautiful. There are even uglier women than you who are still beautiful. So there is no such thing as you calling yourself above average! Apologize now to all the above-average women!"

"That's your opinion. To a lot of people, I'm just above average."

"Oh yeah?", and then shouted, "Hey, you two! Come here now!"

Stanley and the guild leader approached, and then Stanley said, "What's wrong?", and then he looked at Gen and said, "Has Lina killed him already?! Tell me he has a chance to live. I haven't been able to punch him yet!"

And Raja said, "He's hurt, but not life-threatening."

"That's great."

"But that's not why I called you here."

The guild leader then said, "It isn't? Why did you call us then?"

And Raja said, "Answer me honestly. Do you think Lina can be considered beautiful or not?"

Stanley and the guild leader were startled by the question, and Stanley then said, "Hey Raja, what are you trying to do?!"

And Raja said, "Don't worry, just be honest, nothing will happen to you while I am here."

"It's not that I don't trust you, Raja, even more so after everything you've done here, but I'm afraid I'd rather not answer that question."

And the guild leader said, "I'll skip it too."

Lina then said, "Who told you that was an option? Answer it soon before I get angry."

And Raja said, "You heard her. Give us your answer."

The two looked at each other and kept making expressions at each other to decide who would go first until Lina said, "You first, Stanley."

Stanley paled at hearing that and said, "O-Ok, ... I think ... Lina is ..."

And Lina said, "Let's get on with it. We don't have all day!"

"T-Then, let's not waste time. I'll answer this question later."

"No, you're going to answer it now, and if I count to ten, and you haven't given me your answer yet, you will regret it.", and then she started counting, "One, two."

Stanley then said, "I think Lina is ..."

"Six, seven, eight."

"B-Beautiful.", Stanley said and then ran behind Raja.

Lina didn't even pay attention to him and turned to the guild leader, asking, "What about you? What is your answer?"

The guild leader, seeing that nothing happened to Stanley as he answered that, said, "I think you are beautiful, Lina."

Lina then said, "You are not saying that because you saw that Stanley got away by calling me pretty, are you?"

"Never, Lina! I really think you're pretty!"

"That's okay, I get it. You don't have to get so excited. I'm not interested in men your age."

"I didn't mean it that way-"

"That's enough. I don't care about the meaning."

Raja then said, "See, Lina? I told you that you are beautiful."

And Lina said, "That doesn't change anything. The opinion of three people doesn't say anything."

"Doesn't say anything? Lina, pay attention. There is no need to have several people say that a person is beautiful for them to be beautiful. Just like essences, everyone has their conception of beauty. Surely there is someone in this world who thinks you are ugly."

Lina frowned at this but decided not to say anything, and then Raja continued, "But that doesn't change the fact that someone thinks you are beautiful. A vote does not define beauty. It's a personal concept, so as long as someone considers you beautiful, nothing and no one in this world can tell you otherwise because, in the eyes of that person, you are beautiful, period."

Lina, hearing this, said, "I-I, am I beautiful?"

And Raja said, "Yes, Lina, you are beautiful."

Lina was at a loss for words when suddenly, Raja felt a movement in his arms.

Raja then looked at Gen and said, "Looks like you woke up sleepy."

And Gen said, "Shut, cof cof, your mouth."

"Hahaha. Hey Gen, taking advantage of the fact that you're awake, let me ask you something. Do you think Lina is beautiful?"

Lina, upon hearing this, turned to Gen and started paying attention to what he was going to say.

Gen then turned to Lina, watched her for a while, and then said, "What the hell are you asking Raja? Are you blind?"

Lina then thought, 'Finally, someone sane. Tell them, Gen.'

Gen then continued, "If Lina isn't beautiful, who can be?"

And Raja said, "That's what I thought. See Lina, I told you."

Lina was staring at Gen but didn't answer Raja, and he then asked, "Hey Lina, did you hear what I said?"

Gen looked at her and said, "Forget Raja, cof cof, she won't answer you now. She has the same, cof, eyes that you had yesterday. Her essence is leveling up."