Chapter 397 - 355: I Just Want to See Yours
Chapter 397: Chapter 355: I Just Want to See Yours
"That’s not the point."
Seeing Gu Ning’s attention fixed between his legs, Barto gritted his teeth, his voice low as he grabbed her hand—the one pointing at his "tail"—and pulled it away.
He pulled her hand away, but Gu Ning’s eyes were still glued to the spot.
The corner of Barto’s mouth twitched. "...Are you done looking?"
Gu Ning finally tore her gaze away, her face a mask of shock. "Why is it... glowing too?"
As she spoke, she couldn’t resist another glance.
’It’s just so damn conspicuous,’ she thought. ’Even if I try not to look, it glows and it’s... rather prominent...’
Gu Ning gave up and just covered her eyes.
Barto grabbed her hands and pulled them down. "It’s not the only part that glows!"
Gu Ning glanced down, then immediately slapped her hands back over her eyes. "It’s pulsing!"
Barto: "..."
With a long reach, Barto snatched a bath towel and wrapped it around his waist.
Hearing the rustle of fabric, Gu Ning spread her fingers and peeked through the gaps—
The blue light shone through the towel, the patterns still clearly visible. It was so... prominent that the towel couldn’t hide it at all. In fact, it only made the sight that much stranger.
If Gu Ning hadn’t seen him completely naked just moments before, this sight—a man with a towel around his waist and a glowing... area—would have made her suspect Barto had some sort of strange fetish.
Barto sighed in resignation. "So now you know what my body is like. It’s ugly, isn’t it?"
Gu Ning hesitated. "Well..."
Barto’s gaze dropped. "Go on, say it. I know you don’t like it."
Gu Ning scratched her flushing cheek. "Does it affect your health?"
Barto froze. "What?"
Gu Ning started to point at his "tail," but, afraid of being misunderstood, she hesitated. Instead, her finger tapped the glowing pattern on his abdomen. "This... is it bad for you?"
She searched for the right words. "A... side effect of the Blue Gold Inhibitor?"
Barto gazed at her, his expression complex. "It’s not exactly a side effect. It’s a reaction between the Inhibitor and something in my..."
Seeing him trail off, Gu Ning finished for him, "Related to your... genes? Barto, what’s your Mutant Value right now?"
Hearing the concern in her voice about his Mutant Value, Barto swallowed the rest of his sentence. "It’s relatively stable for now. Don’t worry."
Gu Ning’s finger traced a glowing blue line on his abdomen. "It’s not ugly. It’s... beautiful."
’It’s just that... *that* part is a little too... peculiar.’
’But if I ignore its location, the patterns on it are harmonious with the ones on the rest of his body. After all, it has blood vessels too.’
’He just took the Blue Gold Inhibitor, so it must have entered his bloodstream to cause this effect.’
Then Gu Ning remembered something. ’Did Barto say he’s the only one this happens to?’
She decided to ask him about it.
Barto fell silent for a moment. Instead of answering her question, he said:
"You’ve seen my body. Now I want to see yours."
Gu Ning’s fingers froze. In that instant, the heat from Barto’s skin seemed to travel up her arm, starting from her fingertips.
"S-see me?" Gu Ning swallowed hard, her voice dry. "But you... you’ve... you’ve already seen it."
They had lived together in Zone 19 for so long, and with all the accidents that had happened, she figured the little fox had probably already seen everything there was to see.
"I want to look more closely. Is that okay?" Barto asked softly. His tone was serious, neither flippant nor impatient, as if he were asking to examine some ordinary object, not her body.
And yet, Gu Ning could still detect a hint of shyness and curiosity in his voice.
"...Alright."
’Since Barto has been this open with me,’ she thought, ’I might as well let him look.’
She took a deep breath, grasped the hem of her sweater with both hands, and pulled it up. With a CRACKLE of static electricity, the thermal shirt underneath came up with it.
There was nothing underneath.
She’d been wearing a bra when she first transmigrated here, but not long after, her period started. She had taken the bra apart and sewn it into a makeshift sanitary pad.
She had planned to wash and reuse it, but Cook burned it after she used it once. She hadn’t worn any kind of undergarments since.
There weren’t even any female clothes in Zone 19, let alone bras.
Besides, she was always bundled up, and since it was winter, there really was no need.
The bathroom was filled with steam and wasn’t cold, but out of a lingering sense of modesty, Gu Ning still hugged her arms to her chest.
Barto gently took her by the shoulders, guiding her backward until she sat down on the stool she’d occupied moments before. He then knelt, bringing himself to her eye level.
His warm palms slid over her shoulders and gently pulled her arms away from her chest.
They met each other’s gaze in silence for a moment before they both looked down.
A shy, tender intimacy, like a piece of candy dissolving in the steam, melted between them.
"I..." Barto began. "I’ve never seen a female’s body before."
Gu Ning looked up at him. "So, you’re... curious about the female body?"
Barto shook his head. "I just want to see *yours*."
A soft "...Oh," escaped Gu Ning’s lips.
Barto continued, "They teach us in school..."
He stopped, realizing Gu Ning probably hadn’t attended school, at least not one with a standardized curriculum like in the Beast Alliance. He explained carefully, "Here in the Beast Alliance, schools have health and physiology classes for different age groups. I... left school before I came of age, so I never took the adult physiology course."
The truth was, he had left school right after coming of age. But just two months before that, he had started showing signs of degeneration.
He had excelled his entire life, with outstanding abilities and grades. He’d even tested into a higher education institution a year or two earlier than other Beastmen his age—and had received an acceptance letter from the best school in the Beast Alliance.
How could he possibly be resigned to that?
As intelligent as he was, he had ways of evading detection, even in the Second District.
If he could just accelerate his studies and pass all the exams, he would still have options. At worst, he could take a job in a less desirable city.
But just as he had prepared for every contingency, an anonymous letter containing his genetic test results shattered all his hopes.
He had hidden his degeneration so well after discovering it; he had no idea who could have left that letter at his door. He’d never been particularly well-liked growing up, thanks to his personality and his way of handling things, and he had offended his fair share of people. He had his suspicions, but he couldn’t be certain. It could have been anyone, and there was no way for him to find out.
Because his degeneration was an indisputable fact.
Gu Ning prompted, "So?" ’Is he just curious about female anatomy?’
Barto snapped out of his reverie. "I never took the adult Beastman physiology class," he said. "So I need to look at you carefully. To understand you."
In the dim room, the little fox glowed. The blue patterns on his face lit up his features, allowing Gu Ning to see his expression clearly.
He was probably blushing, but he was trying hard to appear calm and composed.
His jewel-like amber eyes were not dilated. His gaze was clear and bright, devoid of any lust or flirtation—only a natural curiosity about her body.
’In this respect, the little fox was even more innocent and inexperienced than she had realized.’
Gu Ning smiled, pursing her lips. Her slightly tense body relaxed. She spread her arms wide and said generously, "Go on, look!"