Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities-Chapter 51: She Feels Way Too Good

The arm that had held the shield steady felt heavy all at once, and a deep ache dragged across his shoulders and back. Even his legs, which had carried him through the final push on pure stubbornness, suddenly felt far less reliable now that the fight was over.

Martin kept his face steady. The first thing he did was check the others, not himself. Only after making sure everyone was alive and standing did he allow himself to feel how much that last opening had really taken out of him.

His grip loosened only enough to stop the spinning, while she remained tucked close in his arms with hers still around his neck. She felt almost dangerously comfortable there, and that was exactly the problem. The warmth of her body, the softness pressed against him, and the way she stayed so close without any sign of pulling away made it much harder than it should have been to remember they were only teammates.

She feels way too good in my arms.

The realization hit hard enough to make him start regaining his senses.

A woman like NukEncore, glowing with happiness and smiling at him like that while clinging to him without hesitation, did not feel like a casual teammate in a passing celebration. She felt like temptation dropped straight into his hands. For one reckless moment, Martin let himself wonder whether this closeness could someday mean something more.

Then reality caught up with him.

He still did not even know her real name.

When he finally came to a stop, Martin checked the system messages. Sure enough, there really was a notification saying they had cleared the dungeon and were the first party to do it.

"You’re right. Damn!" Martin said. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Once her feet touched the floor again, NukEncore instinctively looked at her own hand.

The spell was gone. The light had vanished. There was nothing left there except her fingers, still trembling faintly from the rush.

Her lips parted.

I really did that.

She had not just helped. She had not just cast from the back and hoped for the best. Her attack had finished the boss. Her magic had ended the fight. Somewhere in the system, that moment had already been locked into a first clear nobody could ever take away from them.

The thought hit her so hard that for a second she looked like she might laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, she drew in a quick breath, pressed her lips together, and let her bright smile return before anybody could catch how close she had come to breaking.

"There’s a drop from the boss," Kill Clause said.

Yeah, of course you’d be the first one to notice that.

Chuckling, Martin set NukEncore back on her feet and looked over to where the boss had died.

A crystal spear stood planted there as if the dungeon itself had placed it on display. Its blade caught the dim light with a cold blue gleam, while the black shaft looked sleek and almost regal against the scarred stone floor. It did not look like ordinary loot. It looked like the kind of weapon people talked about long after the run was over.

There was just one issue: only one drop. Who would take it?

"I’ll pass," Martin said, raising his hand. "I still have my bet with Chaos. This is the least I can do to honor that."

Chaosgraphy locked eyes with him. For a split second, he could have sworn she was genuinely delighted to hear that. Maybe it made her victory in that bet feel even sweeter.

"I don’t use spears, so I’ll pass too," Chaos said.

NukEncore chimed in right away. "Neither do I. Pass!"

Meanwhile, Kill Clause stared at the weapon with narrowing eyes. She had that sort of aura around her that made nobody want to interrupt. What was she even thinking?

Martin, Chaosgraphy, and NukEncore all stared at Kill Clause in silence, as if waiting for the exact same answer to appear on her face.

"How much is that weapon worth?" Martin asked, trying to sound as cold as possible.

"This could earn me a lot of clout in the Night Espresso Guild," NukEncore said in the same tone, even though she was obviously lying, because Kill Clause was... the guild leader in disguise.

With a cool tilt of her head, Chaosgraphy stared at Kill Clause, then walked over and poked her arm with one of her swords. Kill Clause snapped out of it and looked at her, then at the other two.

"Ah," Kill Clause said in an unexpectedly adorable voice. "Cough. If none of us has any use for the spear, we could offer it to the guild and split the revenue. I can say for a fact that the Guild Leader doesn’t have much guild currency yet, so she’d probably pay us in real money."

"Hell yeah! That sounds good!" Martin reacted first.

NukEncore and Chaosgraphy deadpanned at Kill Clause.

Of course you don’t have much money yet. The game just launched. And you know that perfectly well because this is your guild. Also, Martin... you sounded like a beggar.

"Don’t look at me like that," Martin said when he caught those flat stares. "I don’t know what you all do for a living, but I’m basically at the bottom of the white-collar food chain. If I could save some money, I’d be able to order a good dinner once in a while instead of relying on my mom’s cooking!"

Just how poor are you?

NukEncore almost stepped in to help, but Chaosgraphy nudged her with an elbow. When she looked over, Chaos was already giving her a subtle shake of the head.

NukEncore understood at once. If they stepped in too much, Martin would start asking the exact questions they could not answer.

That was when Chaos asked Martin, "Don’t you want to test the spear? A sword might not pair well with your shield, but a spear has reach. It would work well with your blocks. A warhammer is perfect against tough opponents, while a spear is better for controlling distance, stopping rushes, and striking weak points."

"That actually sounds like a great idea, and fun too. Makes me think of a Spartan," Martin said with a chuckle. "But it’s fine. I can grab a normal spear and test it on dummies or wooden wolves first. There’s no need for me to take the crystal spear. In the first place, all of you deserve a good reward too! Let’s sell this spear to Cassandra and save that money!"

Martin had already made up his mind, and without knowing who his teammates really were, he had no reason to budge. They also couldn’t say any of it out loud to him, so in the end, they agreed to sell the spear to the guild and split the money.

"Wait, but it’d make sense for me to give you that money since our bet..." Martin said.

Chaosgraphy bluntly replied, "No."

After that, Chaos shot a sharp look at Kill Clause.

Her stare said, Give Martin 80% of the spear’s sale.

Kill Clause, unfortunately, read it wrong.

I know... I’ll sell it for an absurdly high price so Martin’s 25% share will still be significant.

She was absolutely not the kind of person to give up on money, even if it was technically her own!