There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 173

It was an unbelievable situation. But Narsus seemed too earnest to be acting or joking, and he wasn’t the type to lie.

‘No, what is this?’

Philomel was at a loss for words at the absurd situation she had never heard of before.

Magic? But even Philomel, who had picked up quite a bit of knowledge while living in the Magic Tower, had never heard of such magic.

Moreover, she couldn’t think of a culprit or motive for casting such a spell on Narsus.

‘Or is it the power of the system? Is it the effect of that costume I touched a little while ago?’

In fact, that was the most suspicious thing from the moment she realized something was wrong with Narsus.

But that was a function to get new clothes for Narsus, not a function to take them off…

‘Wait!’

Then something flashed through Philomel’s mind. When she thought about it in detail, there was something with a strange name among Narsus’s selectable clothes.

A name that made her think, ‘Huh? There’s even clothes like this?’ rather than ‘Is this even clothes?’

Just thinking of the name sent a chill down her spine. Topless. That was the name of the last outfit Philomel had chosen for Narsus.

“Philomel?”

Did this anxiety and nervousness show on her face? Narsus called Philomel’s name.

“…Narsus.”

“What’s wrong? Is there something you’re worried about-”

“I’m sorry! It’s all my fault!”

“Yes?”

“Actually…”

Narsus couldn’t hide his surprise when he heard the whole story from her.

“Goodness. To think there was such a ridiculous function.”

“I’m so sorry. I swear I never imagined that the person’s clothes would be changed as soon as I operated it. I just thought the clothes would come out with a swoosh in the air…”

Kind Narsus didn’t blame her.

“It’s okay. Anyone can make a mistake. We can just undo it now.”

“Narsus…”

“Can you access that wardrobe menu now?”

“Ah, I’ll try again. It didn’t work before, but maybe it will this time.”

Philomel tried to summon the window in her mind, but nothing happened.

“It still doesn’t work. What should I do?”

“Then let’s wait until the system works again.”

Since there was no other way, the two sat down and talked.

“Narsus, did anything happen on your way here?”

“Yes, fortunately, no one was near the floating stone when my top disappeared.”

Narsus said that he hadn’t encountered anyone while riding the floating stone to the top floor.

“When I arrived at the top floor, I tried to wrap myself in a sack that was rolling around…”

“It was impossible. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes. I was thinking of going back to my room, but I thought I should report it to Philomel as soon as possible because it was a strange anomaly.”

He had come to the right person to blame.

Philomel, who had unintentionally committed a sin, was restless.

“I’m worried about the others.”

“Do you think others have lost their tops like me?”

“Well. I honestly don’t know.”

Now that it’s come to this, let’s just tell the truth.

“The thing is… I don’t remember what clothes I chose for anyone other than Narsus. I thought it was broken, so I randomly pressed anything.”

In fact, it was amazing that she even remembered Narsus’s final choice of clothes.

“I, I see. Then do you at least remember what kind of clothes there were?”

“Um, there was a school uniform.”

“A school uniform. Not bad. I don’t know what the school is like in that world, but at least you wouldn’t wear inappropriate clothes in a place where you learn.”

“I’m sorry, Narsus… I was going to put you in a school uniform at first…”

“No! No! Don’t worry about it! What other clothes were there besides that?”

“There was also a suit. I don’t know what the suit is like in that world, but it must be formal clothes.”

“And?”

“Besides that, there was a police uniform and a baseball uniform.”

“I can’t really imagine what kind of clothes they are just by the names.”

“Oh, right. There was also pajamas. Oh? But I think there was something else in front of it? Ugh, I skipped over it quickly, so I don’t remember very well…”

The two spent time making various inferences with the given information.

Of course, they didn’t forget to check if the system’s power had returned in the meantime.

However, the system was silent until the tea that Philomel had brewed herself had cooled down.

As time passed, one ominous prediction gradually emerged in their minds.

The worst assumption was that the system might have completely disappeared now.

“I have to contact the others!”

Thinking that she couldn’t just wait like this, Philomel jumped up from her seat.

“First, I have to tell Jeremiah, who is closest to me, to come here.”

Fortunately, he had just returned to the Magic Tower a few days ago after finishing his wandering.

“Then I’ll contact His Majesty the Emperor and Killian with the communication stone-”

Knock knock knock. It was then. The sound of knocking on the door interrupted her words.

“Who is it?”

Knock knock knock. Despite Philomel’s question, the visitor kept knocking on the door without saying anything.

“Philomel.”

Narsus cautiously moved Philomel behind him, but she seemed to know the identity of the visitor both rationally and intuitively.

“Jeremiah?”

If it was really him, he would associate the change that happened to him with the power of the system and come to Philomel.

“Yes…”

Soon after, an answer came from beyond the door.

“It’s me, so open the door…”

Although he kept slurring the ends of his words unlike himself, it was definitely Jeremiah’s voice.

Thump. Philomel didn’t hesitate to unlock the door and open it.

“Jeremiah, come on-”

However, her words to greet the visitor stopped in the middle as if her waist had been cut off [meaning she was abruptly cut off].

As soon as the door opened, something white and fluffy jumped inside like lightning and quickly closed the door.

‘Fluffy…?’

Philomel blankly stared at her half-brother, who was checking the lock several times.

Clothes that were generally white but had a round pink belly. Long ears on top of his head. And a large, smiling eye drawn underneath.

It was a cute depiction of an animal.

“Rabbit?”

“Yes… Bbyong.”

Jeremiah, wearing a rabbit-shaped hoodie, turned around at Philomel’s casual remark.

“Philomel. Can you explain what’s going on… Bbyong?”

Unlike the rabbit ears that were twitching every time he spoke, Jeremiah’s expression was extremely fierce.

“Why am I in this state… Bbyong?”

Philomel’s youngest half-brother, the third son of the Magic Tower Lord, and one of the male leads of , a man who lived and died for fashion to the point of shuddering at the nickname Ice Prince, was currently wearing an adorable rabbit costume. Moreover, he kept adding strange endings to his words!

Only then did Philomel realize what she had been missing until just now.

The pajamas that can be selected from the wardrobe menu. It wasn’t just pajamas, it was animal pajamas.

“That’s how it happened.”

“…”

Jeremiah sat down and remained silent while listening to Philomel’s explanation, but it was far from the word calm in any way.

Philomel watched him with a nervous feeling as if facing an active volcano about to erupt.

“I’m sorry, Jeremiah. Because of me…”

Jeremiah, who had closed his eyes, replied.

“Apologies come later; now is the time to work hard to solve what has already happened, Bbyong.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s right.”

A strange silence came after Philomel and Narsus each agreed.

“…”

“…”

Jeremiah’s sharp gaze turned to the two of them.

“You guys are laughing inside, Bbyong?”

“T, there’s no way!”

He pointed his finger at his younger sister, who was waving her hands.

“Especially you, Philomel, Bbyong! Your eyes are laughing, Bbyong!”

“It’s not!”

“Don’t lie, Bbyong!”

“I really don’t… Heut.”

In the end, a slight laugh leaked out of Philomel’s mouth, who couldn’t hold back.

She swore she was going to hold back. But Jeremiah, who was using ridiculous 말투 [a specific manner of speaking] while getting angry, was so contradictory that it was difficult to maintain a straight face.

“Damn it, Bbyong! Who do you think wants to be like this, Bbyong? Whenever I try to speak, random additions are added, Bbyong!”

Jeremiah, who finally exploded, grabbed the rabbit ears with both hands and pulled them wildly.

“Why is it just me, Bbyong! Averyden’s way of speaking is fine, Bbyong!”

“Ah, now that you mention it…”

Philomel, who was listening to his lament, recalled the item description of the special costume.

“I’m sure it said that some costumes have special functions…”

“I don’t need this kind of function, Bbyong!”

Jeremiah tried to tear the rabbit pajamas he was wearing with his rough hands, but he couldn’t even take them off, let alone tear them.

“Calm down!”

After barely calming him down, Philomel tried to summon the window again.

“…It’s not working this time either.”

“Let’s wait a little longer. It will appear soon.”

Narsus comforted her, and Jeremiah shut his mouth in the corner.

Philomel also tried to contact Eustis using the communication stone, but there was no response at all.

In Killian’s case, it was even more difficult to communicate.

This was because neither Philomel nor Narsus had connected their communication stones with him.

‘We weren’t that close in the first place.’

Naturally, a dark cloud hung over her face.

Even if Killian, who travels the world alone, was okay, she was worried about the Emperor.

‘Even if it’s a private matter, what if his clothes change when he’s in public…’

Moreover, if the Emperor’s clothes were chosen to be topless, animal pajamas, or something even worse… Just imagining it made her vision darken.