The dungeon was still dark when we finally made it to a clearing, though the air felt lighter after Iris used her time magic to speed up our escape. A small part of me had hoped that this would be a regular "get out and go back to the guild" situation, but it quickly became clear that things were far from normal.
As we made our way through the narrow stone corridors toward the exit, Iris suddenly stopped in her tracks. She staggered slightly, clutching her head with both hands as though something invisible was squeezing her skull.
"Iris?" I asked, rushing over to her side. "What's wrong?"
She didn't respond immediately, her eyes unfocused as if she were lost in some kind of memory—or nightmare. The eerie glow from her eyes dimmed, replaced by a blank emptiness, and for the first time since meeting her, I saw real fear in her expression.
"Iris?" I repeated, now more urgent. "Hey, what's happening? Are you okay?"
She swayed a bit, and I instinctively reached out to steady her. My hand brushed against her arm. In that split second, time itself seemed to freeze.
I didn't know what was happening. The dungeon sounds—the trickling of water, the distant howls of monsters—suddenly stopped, replaced by a deep silence. The air around us thickened, and I could see the subtle distortion in the space around Iris. The same odd feeling I'd gotten when I first linked with Lina washed over me again, but this time, it was far more intense. My heart raced, my palms sweated.
Iris, still frozen in place, stared at me with wide, stunned eyes. She hadn't moved, her usual composure gone, replaced by the same vulnerability I'd never seen before.
I blinked in confusion, realizing that the world had come to a standstill. This wasn't just her time magic—this was different.
"Did I...?" I muttered under my breath, before I could stop myself. "Did I do this?"
But before I could even process it, the world began to slowly resume its natural flow. The silence evaporated, replaced by the clinking of stone and the distant echo of footsteps. Time was back to normal, but something had changed.
Iris blinked rapidly, as if coming back to herself. Her eyes cleared, but she looked at me with a mixture of confusion and something else—a quiet, almost imperceptible shock.
"Wh-What was that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, her breath quick. She took a step back, as though unsure of what to make of the situation.
I opened my mouth to say something, but the words didn't come. What had just happened? I hadn't activated her time magic; I hadn't even tried. But somehow, the instant I touched her, everything froze. Could this be... another feature of the Harem King system? Or was it something else entirely?
Before I could dwell too much on it, the system chimed inside my mind, confirming my suspicions.
System Update: New Link Established.Link Name: Iris – Time WeaverNew Ability: Limited Time Freeze – Duration: 10 seconds.
The information washed over me like a wave, and I found myself stunned by the absurdity of it all. The system was really doing this? I'd just gained the ability to freeze time for ten seconds?
"Did you—did you feel that?" Iris asked again, her voice suddenly tense. "What did you do?"
I hesitated, unsure of how to explain the truth. "I... I'm not entirely sure," I said, my voice a little unsteady. "But, um, I think I might've just activated some... sort of power."
"Power?" Iris repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That was not normal, MC. What the hell just happened?"
I scratched the back of my neck, avoiding her gaze. "Look, I'm not sure how it works, but I think... we just linked, and I might have gotten a little something extra."
"A little something extra?" Iris said, a touch of disbelief in her tone. "Do you know what that felt like? You—"
"Yeah, I'm confused too!" I said quickly, my face turning red. "But... the system just gave me this ability to stop time for a few seconds. I think it's tied to you."
Iris blinked, her cold demeanor wavering for just a fraction of a second. "You're... serious?"
I nodded, still reeling from the shock of it all. "I mean, I don't know what to do with it. It's not like I can freeze time at will, and it's only for ten seconds... but it's... something."
She narrowed her eyes, as if trying to gauge whether I was joking or not. After a long, tense silence, Iris sighed. "I don't know whether to be impressed or terrified. Either way, we need to figure out what's happening, MC. This isn't normal."
I couldn't agree more, but there was something else on my mind. I couldn't help but wonder: How many more abilities would I get? How much stranger could this journey get?
"Well, let's just focus on getting out of here first," I said, trying to steer the conversation away from the awkwardness between us. "We've still got a ways to go."
Iris stared at me for a long moment, then slowly nodded. "Fine. But after we're out, we're talking about this. There's too much going on, and I'm not letting you get away with ignoring it."
I forced a smile. "Sure, sure. No problem."
But as we continued our trek toward the dungeon exit, I couldn't help but feel like something important had just changed. A new power, a deeper link, and a dangerous potential I wasn't ready to face.
End of Chapter 10