Inside Hera’s Grace’s high-tech, luxurious fitting room, Lohan let out a muffled sigh.
The space was lined with smart mirrors that projected comfort metrics and biometric fit sensors, a stark contrast to the damp cubicle he called home in Sector 4.
He had a bit of trouble removing the protective overcoat and black hoodie; the clothes were heavy, impregnated with the metallic soot of the Lower Zone and the sweat from walking in the acid rain.
However, when he finally shed the layers of protection and was left in only his undergarments, Lohan paused for a moment, staring at his own reflection.
What he saw in the mirror was no longer the pale, stooped, malnourished boy who had inherited this body weeks ago.
Thanks to constant integration with his Dual Mythic Base and his ascent to Level 12, Lohan’s human body had been rewritten.
His musculature was long and dense, with well-defined fibers reminiscent of a professional swimmer’s anatomy; his shoulders had broadened, creating a sharp "V" shape, and his skin had a healthy, smooth glow, free of any imperfections.
Contrary to what the prejudiced employee outside imagined, Lohan’s body was impeccably clean. The Digestive Filter and Efficient Digestion worked tirelessly, and his ability to digest impurities through his pores ensured that no environmental toxins remained on his skin.
He felt a wave of pride wash over his chest; that physique was the result of every drop of sweat in the real world and every bloody battle in Elysium.
Lohan began to put on the first outfit Lisa had set aside, the midnight-blue ether silk suit.
The smart fabric glided over his skin like water, automatically adjusting to his muscular frame through intelligent compression. He kept only the lower part of his black mask on, covering his mouth and chin but leaving the rest of his face, his tousled black hair and bright blue eyes, exposed.
When he finally unlocked the door and stepped out of the fitting room, the place fell completely silent and still.
The beat of the store’s background music seemed to recede in the face of the presence Lohan now exuded.
The deep blue outfit created a stark contrast with his dark hair, and the way the light refracted off the ethereal silk, combined with his cold, confident eyes, made him seem wrapped in an aura of natural authority.
He no longer looked like a rat from the Lower Zone; he looked like a movie heartthrob or an elite heir straight out of an Upper Zone command center.
Isabella, who was sitting in a comfortable armchair with her usual "Ice Queen" facade, froze.
Her golden eyes widened, and Lohan could see, even beneath her mask, the blush rising rapidly up her pearly neck to her cheeks, growing redder the longer she stared at him.
The employees’ shock was even greater.
The woman who had tried to block Lohan let out an audible gasp, holding onto the counter to keep from staggering.
They wondered, unable to believe it, if this was the same boy who had walked in there minutes ago.
With that perfect posture and the intense gleam in his blue eyes, a side effect of the purified Mana, Lohan looked like someone who belonged at the very top of Eden-3’s social pyramid, the shocking complete opposite of how he had walked in there!Other customers who had arrived at the store began to approach, whispering to one another with hints of shock and admiration.
"Who is he? I’ve never seen him at any party I’ve been to recently." A young woman with blonde hair murmured, adjusting her ocular hologram.
"Could he be a prince from another planet or the secret heir to some corporation who came to visit Eden-3?" Her friend, with short, curly brown hair, asked, clearly mesmerized by Lohan’s appearance. "We should try to get his Syn’s contact number..."
Upon hearing the comment about "getting the number," Isabella felt a sense of urgency and a twinge of irritation she couldn’t immediately label.
The initial excitement of "dressing her Vice President" was replaced by a possessive instinct.
"That’s enough for now," Isabella said, her voice sounding cold and sharp as a blade of ice. "Hayes, take all the other clothes I picked out. You’ll try them on at home. There’s no need to continue this show here."
Lohan noticed the change in her tone and, feeling mischievous for the first time since arriving in the Upper Zone, approached Isabella just as he did with the fox Lisa.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear, making sure only she could hear. "Well, Lisa... you just want a private show so you don’t have to share the view with the others, right?"
Isabella’s face flushed a deep crimson. Before Lohan could laugh, she delivered a quick punch to his arm.
With the strength enhancement of his Legendary Class, the blow caused a powerful crack that echoed through the store, but Lohan didn’t even flinch.
The resilience he possessed beneath his skin absorbed the impact as if it were a breeze.
Lohan merely let out a low chuckle and returned to the fitting room to collect his old clothes and the rest of the new items, deciding he didn’t intend to change clothes again; he would wear that outfit to continue shopping.
As he grabbed the bags, Isabella acted as a shield for him.
She shot a frosty glare at the other women in the store, a pressure so intense it made them instinctively back away, keeping anyone who tried to approach Lohan at bay while she restrained herself from using Mana to do so.
She didn’t fully understand what she was feeling, but this "Jelly Corgi" was her guild partner, and she wasn’t willing to let the frivolous elite of Eden-3 try to get close to him now.
When it came time to pay, Isabella stepped up to the counter, preparing to authorize the transaction through her eye hologram linked to her million-dollar accounts. However, Lohan placed his hand in front of her interface, interrupting the signal.
With a calm motion, he pulled a stack of high-denomination physical bills from his duffle bag and placed them on the marble counter.
"I’ll take care of this," Lohan said firmly.
It was $20,000 in cash credits, half of what he had taken from Oscar’s safe.
For the employees, seeing that amount in untraceable paper currency was almost as shocking as Lohan’s beauty, after all, who among the honest folk still used paper like that? This only deepened the mystery of that handsome young man from the Lower Zone, causing a fanfic to begin forming in their minds as they looked at the boy in dark clothes standing next to the girl in white.
In the Lower Zone, that stack would be a fortune capable of changing lives; here, it served only to cover a few sets of Ether Silk and smart fibers.
Lohan felt a sharp pain in his heart as he watched the money disappear; that was his "reserve fund" for the real world, but he knew it was a necessary evil. He wouldn’t accept being a "Sugar Boy" supported by the trillionaire girl; he was the Vice President of Astralis Requiem, and his independence was what kept their relationship equal.
Isabella looked at the bills and then at Lohan, the sparkle of admiration in her golden eyes outweighing any previous irritation.
"Stubborn as ever..." she murmured, but this time, there was a genuine smile beneath her mask.
Lohan grabbed the bags and gestured toward the exit. "Right... now that I look like a ’functioning citizen,’ where are we going, President?"