SSS-Rank Awakening: My Talent Multiplies Everything novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Hunger Forrest [2]

[TRIAL COMPLETE]

[Rating: A+]

[Rewards:]

[+3,000 Tower Coins]

[+3 Intelligence, +5 Endurance]

[Infinite Reward Multiplier — Activated!]

[Multiplier: x9]

[Rewards adjusted:]

[+27,000 Tower Coins]

[+27 Intelligence, +45 Endurance]

Kael barely spared the notification screen a glance before dismissing it immediately.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet, though his body still trembled faintly.

The hunger was gone now that the trial had ended, but the lingering psychological effects remained. Even after surviving it, Kael could still feel traces of that maddening starvation clawing at the back of his mind.

The forest around him slowly dissolved into motes of light, and moments later he reappeared back inside the start room.

Kael did not linger there for even a second.

He immediately grabbed the two unopened reward boxes and tossed them into his inventory before willing himself out of the Tower.

Aiona did not even get the chance to congratulate him before he vanished.

The start room disappeared.

Then the next moment, Kael found himself back inside his apartment room.

He immediately checked the time on his phone.

6:55 AM.

The sun was already beginning to rise outside, and faint sounds of the waking city could already be heard through the window.

But Kael barely noticed any of it.

Because at that exact moment, a sweet aroma drifted into his nose.

Food.

Before he could even consciously react, his body had already moved.

Kael practically burst out of his room and headed straight toward the kitchen, drawn entirely by instinct.

The moment he spotted the covered plate sitting on the table, he descended on it immediately.

The lingering mental imprint left behind by the Hunger Forest still clung heavily to him.

He was already halfway through the food before his rationality finally caught up.

Kael slowly froze.

Then raised his head.

His mouth was still stuffed full of food.

Across the table, Lyra sat staring at him with an extremely complicated expression.

Silence filled the kitchen.

Kael felt his cheeks heat up slightly in embarrassment.

Slowly, he forced himself to calm down before chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth.

"...Hey," he greeted awkwardly. "Good morning. I didn’t notice you were there earlier."

Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she replied calmly. "I noticed."

Kael somehow felt even more embarrassed hearing that.

He coughed lightly before trying to explain himself.

"So, uh... you see, I didn’t really get anything to eat, and the Tower trial drained me pretty badly, so I was feeling extremely famished."

"Oh, is that so?" Lyra said slowly.

Her gaze drifted meaningfully toward Kael’s plate, which had somehow already been reduced to half its original amount within seconds.

The suspicion in her eyes was obvious.

Still, she did not press further. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Instead, she simply returned her attention to her own food.

She had originally been eating peacefully before Kael suddenly stormed into the kitchen and started devouring food like a starving beast.

Soon, both of them quietly resumed eating.

Several minutes later, the meal finally ended.

Kael leaned back slightly in his chair while Lyra focused on her phone screen, both of them doing their absolute best to ignore the awkward atmosphere lingering between them.

Especially Lyra.

She seemed determined to erase the image she had just witnessed from her memory entirely.

Eventually, Kael broke the silence first.

"So, what are you doing today?"

Lyra finally looked up from her phone.

"I plan on doing my Tower tutorial today," she said. "I’ve already made all my preparations, so I think today’s the day."

Kael nodded.

"That’s good."

Then Lyra asked, "What about you? Doing another Tower run today?"

Kael shook his head.

"No."

He leaned back slightly before continuing.

"I’m taking a couple days off before entering again."

He was not lying either.

The previous trial had been rough.

Very rough.

Even without physical injuries, the mental strain from the Hunger Forest was still lingering heavily inside him.

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