Ms. Kusakabe, what are you doing?
Ms. Kusakabe was utterly absorbed in her task, completely unaware of Night's approach. The sudden voice from behind startled her so badly she pitched forward.
Damn it—most people fall backward, Night thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. Is her chest throwing off her balance?
"Ah, Night-kun! You scared me!" Recognition washed over her face as she turned, her expression easing before twisting into confusion. "Honestly, I'm not sure why. When this big monster appeared... I felt something calling to me... Huh? What's... my hands?"
As she spoke, Kusakabe looked down in shock. Her hands, which had braced against the tank creature's corpse during her fall, had sunk wrist-deep into its thick, greenish hide. Worse, they were still sinking slowly.
Sunk wasn't quite right. Fused was more accurate. The skin of her arms had seamlessly merged with the tank's flesh. At the junction, worm-like blood vessels pulsed visibly, pumping nutrients into her body.
Sensing something was wrong, Safi and Ross rushed over. The sight made them both suck in sharp breaths.
"What happened? Is she infected?" Safi asked, her knuckles whitening on the grip of her spiked club, tension radiating from her.
"Unlikely. This doesn't look like infection," Night countered, a suspicion forming but needing confirmation. He crouched beside Kusakabe. "Ms. Kusakabe, how do you feel? Any discomfort?"
"Well, my back is a bit sore from bending over like this..."
"...Not that."
"Oh! I feel fine! Actually, I feel... stronger? Like energy is building up!" Kusakabe instinctively flexed her arm. To everyone's astonishment, she lifted the massive chunk of carcass her hands were fused to.
Ross and Safi stared, dumbfounded. Even the smaller half-section weighed at least four or five hundred kilograms!
Splat!
The carcass section abruptly detached and hit the ground. Its once vibrant red flesh had turned the dull, lifeless grey of meat frozen for decades, its volume noticeably shrunken.
In stark contrast, Kusakabe looked radiant. Her already fair skin glowed with a plump, rosy vitality, shimmering with an almost pearlescent sheen. Her long blonde hair gleamed like spun gold, each strand catching the sunlight brilliantly. It was like someone had applied a real-life beauty filter. Though her features and figure remained the same, the enhanced luminosity of her skin and hair transformed her entire presence. For a fleeting moment, Night could have sworn he was looking at a golden-haired goddess stepped straight from a classical painting.
"What... in the world just happened?" Safi murmured, reaching out tentatively to touch the remaining carcass piece, perhaps hoping for a similar glow. Nothing happened.
"It has to be an ability," Night stated, his suspicion confirmed. This was undoubtedly one of the unique personal abilities the mission briefing had hinted NPCs might possess.
Ross and Safi exchanged a glance, nodding grimly in agreement.
"So what is her ability?" Safi pressed. "Absorbing life force to boost her own stamina? Maybe even transferring that energy to others?" Given Kusakabe's role as a medic in their original world, a healing or support ability seemed the logical guess.
Night shook his head noncommittally. In the Phantom World, assumptions were dangerous. Without concrete proof, labeling her ability as restorative was premature. "Ms. Kusakabe, how do you feel now?" he asked, focusing on her.
"Hmm... warm. Like there's all this energy inside me trying to burst out... Ah! Oh no... it really is coming out!"
Kusakabe flexed her arms energetically. Instantly, her ample chest swelled dramatically. The buttons of her blouse shot off like shrapnel.
Night reacted instantly, twisting aside. The plastic projectiles whistled past him. Ross, standing behind, wasn't so lucky. They peppered his face with stinging red welts. "Augh! My face!" he howled.
But the chest was just the beginning. Kusakabe's entire body began to inflate like a balloon. Sleek muscle erupted beneath her skin, coiling and bulging grotesquely. Within seconds, the statuesque blonde beauty had transformed into a muscular female colossus towering over two meters tall.
The effect was jarringly absurd. Her face remained the same – sweetly vacant, undeniably pretty – perched atop a neck connected to a bodybuilder's physique that would humble Schwarzenegger. It was pure, surreal comedy.
Seeing Kusakabe standing there, once again stark naked thanks to the explosive growth, Safi reacted on pure instinct. Her fingers shot out in a vicious double-finger strike aimed straight at Ross's eyes.
"Don't look!" she snarled.
"Gah! Are you kidding me?! What's there to look at?! She looks like a brick wall now! AUUUGH! MY TITANIUM ALLOY EYES!" Ross clutched his face, his theatrical writhing reaching new levels of expertise.
Kusakabe herself seemed utterly unfazed by the transformation, her mental processing lagging far behind events. She blinked owlishly down at her massive form. "Huh? Night-kun? Did you get shorter...? Oh! Wait, no... I got taller? Is this... a second growth spurt?"
"Ms. Kusakabe, take deep breaths. Try to relax your body," Night instructed calmly. He wasn't sure if it would work, but since the change happened suddenly, reversing it might be possible. Thankfully, his hunch proved correct. After a few moments of concentration, Kusakabe's body began to shrink, muscle receding until she stood before them once more in her familiar, voluptuous form.
"Night-kun... what was that?" Kusakabe asked, bewildered, clutching the tattered remains of her blouse.
Night retrieved the spare Fujimi Academy boys' uniform jacket from his storage space and draped it gently over her shoulders, covering her. "Let's find somewhere safe first," he said, his voice firm. "We'll figure this out later."