The World after the Fall

As the two naked men had an awkward atmosphere between them, there was a woman watching them from a distance.

"…What the hell are they doing?"

It was the blonde woman, Benya. She quietly approached the two of them.

"Huh?"

Runald found her first. He pointed at her and spoke.

"Oh, it's the woman who peed on the ground."

"…I didn't pee," Benya retorted and glanced toward Jaehwan. She looked down when Jaehwan looked back at her. She stood there silently and hesitated for a few seconds before she handed out a shopping bag.

"H-here!"

"…What is this?"

"Clothes," she said in a shaky voice.

"Clothes?"

"It's called Reinholdt's Long Coat…"

It was the [Part] that Jaehwan saw at the lower auction house area earlier. Jaehwan reached into the bag and took it out.

[Reinholdt's Long Coat]

Description: Long coat worn by Vicegerents of High-ranking God - Reinholdt. It's durable and keeps the temperature of the wearer. It is said to wield Reinholdt's Setting - [High Speed Flying].

The hologram that contained the description popped up as soon as Jaehwan touched it. He used to have no access to anything in the <System> up until his 3rd step, but a few of them came back once he reached the 4th step of Awakening. It didn't mean he could use levels or status, but it allowed him to read descriptions or something similar. It was uncertain as to why the change happened, but Jaehwan guessed it had something to do with him opening a 'Creation'. Jaehwan looked down at the coat and felt some kind of dejà vu.

"Hey- what's the size?"

"Size?"

Asking about the size when it was free? It seemed rude, but Jaehwan did not care about manners.

"I have bad memories about getting the wrong size."

"Uh… well, you don't need to worry about sizes. It changes to fit the wearer."

"…Is that so?"

Jaehwan was surprised as he looked down at the coat again. Mino once gave him clothes when he arrived in <Chaos>.

'Something bad happens when I get something like this.'

He ended up in a messy situation.

'I guess it should be alright this time.'

Jaehwan decided to receive the gift.

"But why are you giving it to me?"

Benya thought the order of the questions was wrong, but she decided to not care.

"…I felt sorry."

She couldn't even bear to look at Jaehwan.

"If it's about what happened earlier, don't worry about it. I've forgotten it already."

"Are you forgiving me?"

Jaehwan nodded and Benya's face brightened. Jaehwan then took the coat and wore it. The coat began to shrink on Jaehwan and soon changed its shape to fit Jaehwan's body. It didn't hinder his movements at all. It was truly a good [Part].

"Thank you."

Jaehwan showed his gratitude.

"It looks good on you!" Benya also added. But the other man, the only Follower of Jaehwan, did not seem to share the idea.

"…I'm disappointed, Jaehwan."

Runald, who was now naked alone, looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"Why now?"

"You have clothes! It's not beautiful! It's revolting to our 'Naked way'!"

Jaehwan was about to object and refute the fact that he never wanted to uphold that ridiculous 'Way', but Benya jumped in instead. She stood proudly in front of Runald and looked down.

"Heh, little kid. You don't know anything, don't you?"

Runald felt like he was being belittled by an older person, but he couldn't fight back. Benya scoffed, "A kid like you wouldn't know 'true beauty'. No way."

"…True beauty?"

Benya then smiled arrogantly as she continued, "True beauty doesn't show when you're naked."

"…What?"

Runald was reminded of the following words from Andersen ever since he arrived at Depth.

-True beauty lies in nakedness.

He didn't care at first, but he soon didn't mind whether it was true or not. Then when he realized it, he was fully submerged in the idea. It was true. The Goddess was right. The true beauty lies in… no. It was nakedness that was the definition of beauty!

Yet, here was this woman, a powerful foe who directly opposed the idea.

Runald became angry.

Who was she to talk about 'nakedness'?

"It's the difference between art and pornography… but you're too young to understand."

Surely, it was too difficult for Runald to understand. He fired back, "Then, what is true beauty?"

"It's only when you can barely see it that you can see true beauty."

Barely? What did she mean? Runald couldn't understand.

"No way. The true beauty of a human being lies within the nakedness!"

"Hmm… how about I put it this way- kid. A 'God' is a mysterious being, right?"

Runald was confused by the sudden subject change, but he decided to answer anyway.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Then why is it mysterious? Do you know why?"

"Uh, what does that have to do with true beauty?"

"Just answer me first."

Runald gave some thought to the question, but he couldn't find the answer. He became disappointed at himself and shook his head as he looked up to the lady.

Benya smiled.

"It's because we can't see them."