The morning after a long, steamy night.
Ariel woke up feeling weak and drained.
But strangely, her body felt immensely satisfied.
Looking around, she saw Finn cooking—completely naked.
"Why are you making breakfast?"
"It's for content. I'm a content creator, remember?"
"Ahh... so that's it."
Ariel tried to get out of bed and walk across the floor, but she immediately collapsed. Her body was limp, and worse, her crotch ached whenever she moved.
"Why is it only women who suffer after losing their virginity? This isn't fair."
"The world isn't fair. Just realizing that now? We humans are forced to fight monsters far stronger than us just to survive."
Finn turned off the stove and walked over to Ariel.
"Where are you going? I'll help." he said, scooping up the still-naked Ariel in his arms. "To the bathroom?"
"No, I just want to grab your laptop to copy the video."
Finn laid her back on the bed. "Wait here."
He brought her the laptop, then went back to cooking. Ariel opened the video of her and Finn having sex. As she watched, she couldn't help but blush.
'Am I... a slave?' Ariel thought, blushing hard. 'No, this is only during sex! Yeah, just sex! In real life, I would never be his slave. I'll only be his Belle in bed!'
Then she watched the moment she came.
"Was that really my face when I orgasmed?"
"You looked beautiful in that moment."
Finn's compliment only made her more embarrassed.
In the video, her mouth was wide open, tongue sticking out, eyes rolled back, her body arched and she moaned loudly.
"I thought ahegao was only fiction... but apparently not."
"This... I'm too embarrassed to post this on social media."
"Why? You'd definitely go viral."
"No! I don't want to go viral! I only want people around me to know I'm not a virgin anymore—not the whole country!"
Finn chuckled, "Do whatever you want."
As she continued watching the video, she realized she had orgasmed a lot... and Finn had finished inside her multiple times. Curious, she touched herself and felt that Finn's semen was still inside her, dripping out slowly.
"I might get pregnant."
The thought made her anxious.
She was still young and unmarried.
She had no husband to help raise a child.
"Don't worry. Men like me—strong ones—often struggle with fertility."
Thinking back to last night, Finn could change his appearance with magic. He even stayed hard for a full six hours—not like other guys who go limp after a few minutes.
"Finn, who are you really?"
Ariel was curious about the man who took her virginity.
His look is completely unremarkable.
But Ariel felt that he was not as simple as he looked.
"If you can make me fall in love, I'll tell you."
"I don't want to fall in love right now." She said, sadly.
"You didn't even date Arnold, so why are you acting like someone who got dumped?"
"Arnold and I were together for fifteen years, okay? Fifteen years! That's not a short time! I thought of him as my boyfriend. I believed he'd marry me! But I never expected it to end like this! Waaaahhh!" she burst into tears again.
"That's your fault for giving your heart 100% to the wrong guy. Next time, only give your whole heart when he's already your husband."
"...You're right..." she said, wiping her tears. "If only I had been quicker and braver, I could've confessed first—before that cow-titted woman showed up. Then things wouldn't have ended like this."
"That's your fault too." Finn chuckled, seeing her cry like a little kid.
He finished cooking and brought two plates to the dining table by the window. Looking outside, he saw a couple—a blonde guy and a pink-haired girl—leaving the hotel.
"Arnold and Elena."
"What?!!" Hearing those names, Ariel immediately panicked and rushed to the window—ignoring the pain in her crotch.
Tears welled in her eyes as she saw the couple.
"Why are they here?"
"Same reason we are, obviously."
"That can't be! There's no way it happened that fast!"
She refused to accept the bitter truth.
Finn pointed to Elena, who was being helped to walk by Arnold. "Look, she's struggling to walk. Her hymen probably just got torn."
Ariel dropped to her knees, crying. She knew this would happen eventually, but seeing it with her own eyes—her beloved choosing another woman—hurt too much.
"Finn, what's wrong with me as a woman?"
"You're not a woman, just a girl," he said with a smirk.
"I'm being serious! Answer me properly!"
Seeing her tears, Finn felt guilty for joking around.
"I think you're the perfect woman."
"Liar! You're just like Arnold! He said the same thing... but still didn't choose me!"
"It's just a matter of taste. Every guy's different. Some like big boobs, others like small ones. But if I were Arnold, I'd have picked you over Elena."
Ariel stopped crying. Her sadness was replaced by warmth. "Liar! You'd totally choose Elena over me."
"Nope. I'd choose you. You're just my type." Finn said sincerely, making Ariel blush and turn her face away.
"You'd be perfect if you grew your hair out."
"I was planning to grow it out anyway."
"What? Trying to attract me?" he smirked.
"Don't get the wrong idea! I've always had short hair! I'm growing it out to change and move on from the past!" Her face turned red. "I'm not doing it for you, got it?!"
"Tsundere… [1]whatever, let's eat."
Ariel stood to walk, but collapsed again. She reached out and said cutely, "Carry me. I still can't walk."
"You're such a handful."
"Don't call me a handful!"
Finn carried her and sat her down across from him. Then he picked up his phone to snap a picture of the food.
"Finn, why did you become a content creator?"
"Because it pays well with moderate effort. But just so you know, it's super risky. One scandal and everything's gone. That's why I have different personas for real life and online."
"Then why food content?"
"I used to market myself as a child prodigy who could one-shot monsters. But it flopped. People said it was too unrealistic and overhyped. I didn't give up, though. I shifted focus to food—and now I'm successful."
"What's your online name?"
"Sausage Snake."
"Sausage Snake?" The name sounded familiar to Ariel.
She searched it up and found a channel with 300 million subscribers. The profile picture was a sausage coiled like a snake eating its own tail. Ariel had been subscribed to that channel for ages.
"Are you joking? There's no way this is your channel."
Finn sighed, "Believe what you want."
"That's clearly Virtuous Paragon's account!"
Virtuous Paragons were like gods in this world.
Worshipped and praised by humans.
But they started as ordinary people who earned their title by gaining respect from 90% of humanity and striking fear into 90% of monsters.
There was only one Virtuous Paragon in this era: Ouroboros.
He didn't exist in Ecstasy and Madness.
Ouroboros was a handsome silver-haired man with the power to manipulate everything that has no limits.
But unlike other Paragons who rose through raw strength, Ouroboros became one through a culinary revolution.
Before him, food in this world was very boring, without any herbs or spices and with simple cooking methods such as boiling and burning. This was because humans in this world were too busy surviving to enjoy life.
Then Ouroboros came along, introducing spices, seasonings, and complex cooking methods. Dishes like pizza, burgers, spaghetti, kebabs, shawarma, and more emerged.
That makes Ouroboros the only human to ascend as a Virtuous Paragon without relying on his powers.
And he shared all his recipes on his channel.
"Finn, you better be careful with your jokes. This time it's just me who heard it, but if any of Ouroboros's fanatics find out, you could get killed. Don't mess around with Virtuous Paragons again," Ariel warned seriously.
"No one's joking though."
Finn then uploaded a photo.
Ariel's phone buzzed with a notification.
She opened it—and froze.
Ouroboros had just uploaded a new photo.
It showed the exact same food sitting in front of Finn.
"WHAT?!!!"
[1] A tsundere is a character who is initially cold, hostile, or aloof toward someone they like but gradually shows a warmer, softer, and more caring side over time. The term comes from the Japanese words tsun-tsun (aloof or grumpy) and dere-dere (lovey-dovey or affectionate).