Still touching his face, Kelly finally spoke again, his voice carrying clear doubt.

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously, either you think I’m a dumb fuck, or you’re purposely trying to make me mad."

Kei replied with clear annoyance, feeling almost insulted that Kelly had even asked such a question.

’What does that even mean, seriously... idiot. You turned into Captain America and expected me to believe nothing changed and just accept it as it is? Even if we’re in another world, that doesn’t mean shit like this just happens.’

Kelly kept looking at Kei as if silently asking her to explain further, and that finally snapped whatever patience she had left. She let out an irritated breath and said,

"Wait."

With that, she began fumbling through her clothes as if searching for something, while at the same time sneakily pulling something out from her pouch. A moment later, with a voice full of threat, she threw it toward Kelly and said,

"Look. And explain."

Kelly caught the object instinctively and looked down. It was a small hand mirror. Without thinking, he asked,

"Why do you have a mirror?"

But with his naturally cold voice, it sounded less like a question and more like a direct accusation.

"..."

Kei, who had been fully prepared to defend herself with the perfectly reasonable argument she had already prepared in advance, was left completely speechless when Kelly said,

"Forget it... it’s like asking a tiger why it has claws."

Hearing that flat tone which somehow sounded like it was mocking both her and every woman in existence she felt a vein twitch on her forehead. However, before she could fire back, Kelly opened the mirror and looked at himself. And for the first time, Kei saw his cold expression completely break.

His eyes widened like saucers as he stared at his own reflection in stunned silence. A deep sense of satisfaction rose inside her.

’Now you know, bastard.’

Kei snickered to herself. But then

’Wait... why am I so happy that he realized he’s fucking hot?’

Her brief sense of victory over Kelly vanished almost immediately.

’Fuck... I’m hot... no, I’m fucking beautiful. What’s up with those blue eyes and this fucking long, flowing white hair... so freaking cool... God, no... no... not good, I’m admiring myself.’

However, unlike the chaos in his thoughts, his expression only returned to that same cold, emotionless face like stone, unreadable and still.

But inside? His mind was becoming more and more chaotic.

’Is this what that woman meant? Holy fuck, this is good... it’s like I remodelled my entire genetic structure.’

As that thought crossed his mind, Kelly stood up from where he had been sitting and immediately realized something else.

’Fuck... I’m tall... possibly 180.5... ahhh, this is so fucking great. Everything feels so fucking small... finally, this makes me as tall as my father.’

Of course, the part about everything looking smaller was mostly his own illusion. If Kei had heard that thought, she would have laughed herself to death.

After all, compared to his previous height where he had been only slightly shorter than her gaining just 1.5 centimetres didn’t exactly make the world around him shrink.

Fortunately for Kelly, she had no idea. As for him, he was still completely absorbed in admiring every single change his body had gone through.

’I have veiny hands now... a fucking muscular chest and fucking great abs... even my calves have muscle and veins... and even though I can’t see it, I can feel it—the butterfly back... fuck, am I in heaven? This is everything I ever wanted. It was so simple to get...’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But as that thought crossed his mind, his memories drifted back to the pain he had gone through. And in that instant, he realized how wrong that thought was. Nothing had been simple. Nothing had been free.

If he had been given the choice, he would have gladly thrown all of this away just to never experience that pain again.

’Yeah... nothing is ever simple and free after all.’

The excitement that had filled him moments ago disappeared completely. And as he continued thinking about that unbearable pain, his mind drifted toward one detail he had been unconsciously avoiding.

’And Crow died... hahhh.’

Kelly let out a quiet sigh, his mood dropping straight to rock bottom.

’Was any of this worth it...? I don’t know... She was right. This is just guilt, not the remorse I should be feeling... I hate myself for it.’

Kelly got caught up in his emotions once again, and this time even the cold mask of his expression cracked. Kei could clearly see the sadness in his eyes, along with the slight furrow of his brows. It wasn’t hard for her to guess what he was thinking about. So, she spoke, giving him the clarity he needed most right now.

"When I woke up, he was already gone."

A brief, tense silence settled between them. Realizing she now had Kelly’s complete attention, Kei continued.

"I don’t know what happened while I was unconscious... but I can connect the dots..."

She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. Her expression alone revealed the sadness and guilt weighing on her heart as she kept speaking.

"I’m sorry. I know it must be hard... but thank you for saving me."

Kei looked into Kelly’s eyes once again as she said those words. However

’Why... why are you so sad when it should be me? Why don’t I feel as sad as her? Crow was so close to me. They barely even met, yet Kei feels this bad about him... and me? I just feel guilt more than sadness. And that guilt isn’t even for his death... it’s for something as pathetic as realizing I didn’t care about him as much as I thought I did.’

Kelly was afraid. He hadn’t realized it before, but now he could see it clearly. His thoughts were becoming colder.

The overwhelming emotions he had felt at the moment of Crow’s death since waking up, he wasn’t even feeling most of them anymore. It was as if time had passed and somehow healed the wound far too quickly. But it hadn’t been time. It was something else. He could feel it. His thoughts had become more practical. Sharper. Farther away from ordinary human emotion. And soon, he realized the true reason behind that change.

’Are these the deeper changes she talked about...? The changes in my psyche... in my mind...’