The Unlimited Ascension: Reborn as an Extra

The morning sun rose over Asterion, illuminating the modern world with its warm, golden light. Small birds were singing with their own pleasant melodies while resting near the glass window. The bright rays of sunlight poured through the window, falling gently on the two figures sprawled across the large bed. They lay close to one another, unconsciously holding each other’s arms while seeking comfortable warmth during the cool night.

As the comforting warmth radiating from the sun’s rays fell across their faces, Alen stirred from his deep sleep. His sleepy eyes opened in a daze, and the very first thing he registered was a unfamiliar, soft feeling against his arm.

”Where am I?...” he muttered to himself in a daze, having forgotten the events of the previous night in his sleep. He rubbed his tired eyes.

Suddenly, from right beside him, Lyris also stirred in the morning light. As her dazed, sleepy expression met his, she stared at him sidelong for a few quiet seconds.

Then, cold reality crashed into her mind. She realized that she had fallen asleep without changing back into her male form.

She quickly scrambled backward, pulling the heavy bedsheet up and covering her entire body. She frantically pulled her delicate arms away from his, causing the comforting warmth of her hands to suddenly disappear. Alen noticed her frantic movements as he looked at the mysterious figure hiding entirely beneath the sheets.

”Hey, who are you?...”

He finally came back to his senses, processing the layout of the hotel room. He paused and let out a heavy sigh.

”So, you are that weird guy L? Why are you behaving like I just caught your most secret, embarrassing habit?....”

Alen looked at the shivering lump of sheets with sheer confusion, not knowing what weird things his roommate had been doing while he slept.

”Hey, drop that sheet. You’re looking highly suspicious right now....”

As Alen leaned closer, he suddenly caught a faint scent in the air. He found a sweet, floral smell—like the expensive shampoo of a girl—wafting from the person under the covers.

His suspicion became incredibly dense as he glared at the sheets.

”Hey, what did you f*cking do behind my back?!”

Lyris quickly scrambled out of the bed, dragging the sheet with her. She desperately searched for where she had last put her pendant artifact.

Alen stood up from the mattress, forming a deep frown.

”Are you going to keep your mouth shut forever? Just tell me what happened!”

Lyris’s eyes finally found the purple pendant. It was placed on the small table right beside the washroom door.

She started walking toward it as quickly as she could while keeping herself covered.

But before she could reach the table, Alen stepped forward and blocked her path.

”Take this sheet off. I want to know what you did. Do you have some weird habits that you do during sleep which you are hesitating to show me?... Just tell me, and I will back off....”

Lyris frowned deeply. She could only see him through one of her eyes from a tiny corner of the sheet.

’What should I do? If I try to talk right now, my voice will be completely feminine. He will instantly catch my secret. But if I don’t talk, he might just lunge toward me and snatch this sheet away...’

As she was frantically thinking about what she should do, Alen stepped forward again. He reached out and tried to pull the sheet away, but she stepped back instinctively, evading his grasp.

’Should I just use my movement skill to escape? No, if I use my skills now, his suspicion will only deepen further.’

As he started to step forward again, she stepped back. But as he continued to advance, her back finally hit the solid wall. He was standing directly in front of her. She looked up at him with a dangerous hint of vulnerability. She couldn’t do anything to escape now, except perhaps knocking him out with a strike... But that might hurt him. Yet, she had no other choice left except that.

’Do I really have to do that, right after he woke up from the terrible nightmare he had? No, it would be wrong to hurt him now, and his suspicion is still going to deepen if I randomly hit him... Sigh.... Okay... If that is how it is going to be, let him see my real face then...’

As he stepped closer, suddenly, a faint red glow caught her eye. She found that her pendant was automatically flying toward her, hidden by Alen’s blind spot. A dense hint of Crimson Essence was coating the artifact securely. She instantly snatched it from the air before Alen could see it. She quickly imbued her mana into the pendant, charging it instantly behind the safety of the sheet. Her body began to change, transforming back into her male disguise.

Alen grabbed the edge of the sheet and threw it away.

As his azure gaze fell on his roommate, his suspicion deepened even more.

Lyris—or more appropriately now, L—was slumped against the wall. Heavy beads of sweat were coating his face and body, a result of the stifling heat of the heavy sheet and his intense nervousness.

L glared at Alen while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Alen looked at him sharply, crossed his arms over his chest, and demanded answers.

”Now tell me, what were you hiding behind that sheet? And why do you smell exactly like a woman?...”

L looked at him with a conflicted gaze as he frantically thought of a viable reason. He then looked at Alen calmly and spoke with a defensive frown.

”Don’t you see I am sweating too much? I have a severe allergy to morning sun rays. If the direct rays fall on my body, I start to sweat profusely and break out. That is why I was covering myself with the sheet.... Why do you ask?” L lied flatly, stating it as if it were a pure matter of fact.

Alen blinked at his ridiculous answer. He still felt like something was not quite right.

”Then what about the sun rays during the last trial in the Ascension Realm just before we exited...?”

L bit his lip, but he answered calmly, lying with the best of his confidence.

”That was artificial realm sunlight. Real sunlight is different.”

”Then what about the other thing? Why would you smell like a woman?...”

L blushed. He tried to hide his face while rapidly fabricating an appropriate reason that would make solid, logical sense.

As he suddenly remembered an excuse, he answered.

”Oh, you mean the smell from the shampoo? Actually, I had gone to buy men’s shampoo before the trial, but the old lady mistakenly gave me the female brand. I forgot to notice it at the time. I don’t have any female friends who I could share it with, so instead of throwing away good soap, I just used it to wash up. Why? Does it smell weird?...”

”Of course it smells weird. It’s not that I hate it, but it is unsuitable for men. It would only suit a female...” Alen muttered.

He sighed, shaking his head. He looked at L and asked his final question.

”So tell me, did you do anything suspicious while I was sleeping?...”

L blinked, completely caught off guard by the blunt accusation.

”Wait! Stop talking like that. I did not do anything weird or suspicious to you. I am not like that!”

”Hmph. Every thief says they didn’t loot anyone, but in reality, they are the ones who did it...” Alen scoffed.

L bit his lip, having no valid answer for his words. He had indeed held Alen’s hand and comforted him in his sleep, but he couldn’t tell him that. Alen might consider a very weird meaning behind those gentle deeds.

As Alen looked at L, waiting for a comment to come, he suddenly heard a sound at the door.

*Knock* *Knock*

Alen glanced toward the door. He finally sighed, dropped the interrogation, and walked over to open it. The person standing in the hallway was none other than Ava.

’Sigh... You are a literal lifesaver, Ava...’

L finally looked away in immense relief. Suddenly, remembering that he had just bluffed Alen about a severe sunlight allergy, he quickly walked into the washroom to wash his face, change his clothes, and wear his cloak so that he would not remain under Alen’s suspicion anymore.

After L walked back out, the trio sat calmly in the enclosed hotel room. L sat on the edge of the soft bed, while Alen and Ava sat on the provided chairs. They started to discuss what should be done next.

But before they could truly begin their conversation, a bright crimson light began to push away from Alen’s body. A small figure manifested in the air right in front of him. A tiny girl with pitch-black silky hair and bright crimson eyes looked around the modern room. Her eyes sparkled with abundant life as she felt the vastly different atmosphere from the ruins she had been used to.

”Yes! Finally, I am here in the real world! I had just watched this world using only my projection before, but it feels a little different and much better when I see it for myself... Hehe...”

Ravena looked at everyone in the room. Then, she ran straight toward L and hugged him happily.

L looked surprised by her sudden emergence but didn’t push her away. He gently stroked her black hair. He remembered the Crimson Essence from earlier, which had safely brought his pendant toward him. He finally realized that she was the one who had secretly brought it to his hand.

”Hey, thank you for helping me earlier...” L whispered softly, ensuring only she could hear.

”Oh, it’s nothing. Also, do you still remember my condition, right?” Ravena whispered back.

L’s expression turned a little red.

”Okay... I’ll do that...”

”Hehe... I’ll wait for it...”

Alen sat in his chair, looking at the two figures with heavy suspicion.

’What are they planning? And what is she talking about helping him? Something is definitely not right here. I have to find out what it is...’

Both Ravena and L forgot—or perhaps did not know—that Alen possessed an high hearing power compared to any normal person. It was near impossible for him not to hear their secret conversation unless they were sitting a great distance away, far outside his sensory radar.

”So, should we start the actual conversation, or were you two planning to just keep babbling?” Alen asked dryly.

L was startled by his sudden words. He straightened his back, lifted Ravena up to sit beside him on the bed, and nodded.

”Let’s start then...”