"For now, please get some rest. I’ll call you back into this room shortly. Please wait in the waiting room right next door, Room 7."
Jinseong, who had been sitting in the room facing Yorktown with his hands over his head in despair, finally left after a Navy officer cautiously opened the door to guide him out.
"Oh, Sergeant Yoo! You heard it's break time for you too?"
"Haa... Well... I think this is probably the end for me..."
Jiwoong greeted him warmly in the waiting room, but Jinseong only let out a heavy sigh and plopped down beside him.
"W-what went wrong? There’s no way a 98% score could be that bad, right?"
"Could this 98% actually be negative 98%...?"
"Looks like something really happened to you. What, did you slip up and say something weird? Or were you only supposed to hold hands, but you did something more?"
"I...! Haa..."
Normally, Jinseong would have snapped back with, "Do I look like you?!" and smacked Jiwoong upside the head, but his emotional wounds were deeper than expected.
And for good reason. Regardless of the fact that they were shipgirls, from his perspective, he had barely made light contact with them and two women had already run away. His heart was wobbling dangerously.
"You look pretty happy, though. Guess yours went well? You were barely scraping by at 11%."
"Ah~ Ahahaha~ Seriously... Seriously, shipgirls... They’re just too good... Am I actually a genius?"
Jiwoong looked so happy it was almost painful to watch. At this rate, once he was discharged in six months, he looked ready to reenlist in the Navy immediately.
"Even when I stutter a little, or crack some random joke like I always do with you, Sergeant, they laugh at everything... They answer every question too...! And their smiles are just so pretty!"
Since there had been two shipgirls, the one who looked like a crane—the one Jinseong had seen first—must have been the one facing Jiwoong. The girl Jinseong had glimpsed had seemed dazed and flustered, but apparently, she was the type to smile easily.
"And... and...!"
Jinseong tilted his head, staring with a puzzled look at Jiwoong, who was dragging things out dramatically. What on earth had made him so ecstatic?
"Her chest is freaking huge! Oofk-urgh!!"
In the end, Jinseong couldn’t hold back and smacked the back of Jiwoong’s head.
"You little punk...! What if someone hears you saying that?! We’re both dead!"
Seeing Jiwoong making weird hand motions as if he’d already been bewitched, Jinseong straightened his posture.
"Those shipgirls were sent here for measurement duties. They’re here to work. If they’re working, of course they’d put up with that much!"
"Um... Ahem! But when else are we ever going to get a chance like this? Even celebrities of that caliber would be top 1%, right?"
"Well... yeah..."
It must be nice to be happy all the time. Jinseong turned his head away. While the two men sat there with completely opposite expressions, lost in their own thoughts, it wasn’t long before they were called back by the Navy.
"The two of you may return to the room you were in before."
Jiwoong left the waiting room with light steps and entered the room readily, but Jinseong hesitated for a moment in front of the door. The Navy officer noticed and quietly stepped closer.
"Um... Is something wrong?"
"Ah, n-no! I was just thinking about something for a moment..."
"Do you need more break time? If so, I can let them know."
"N-no, haha... It’s not that. I’ll go in right away."
The Navy officer from Azur Lane seemed to be oddly urging Jinseong along. Since Yorktown had bolted during the measurement, he understood that they might not have gathered enough data on him yet, unlike Jiwoong. But being forced to face the woman who had run away the moment they held hands was not something he could take lightly.
Click. Creeeak.
"A-ah... Y-you’re here?"
Yorktown was already seated. Unlike before, she sat neatly with both hands on her knees, smiling awkwardly and a bit stiffly. She still hadn’t fully calmed down; the blush on her cheeks was clearly visible even to Jinseong.
Jinseong slowly approached and sat down, then took a deep breath and decided to relax.
All right, let’s think from the other person’s perspective. I was working on a mission or an operation, and then suddenly I got sent off to some faraway place. When I got there, the job was to be shoved into a room alone with a man I’d never met before, and apparently, if we talked and made contact, something would be measured.
Nod.
Even he had to admit it was a pretty lousy string of assignments. If it were him, he’d probably be grumbling and complaining to himself in the back too.
"So, what should we do first? Should we start with some light conversation?"
As Jinseong grew calmer, his words came more easily.
"Ah, conversation is... fine. I-I... Could you... hold my hand?"
Yorktown held both hands out in front of her again. Jinseong took her hands carefully and without hesitation.
"Mm... As expected..."
Through Yorktown’s hands, Jinseong could feel her heartbeat. He could tell from the way she had slightly lowered her head and couldn’t meet his eyes, but it felt like her tension was being transmitted directly through her touch.
Her long wavy hair with her forehead exposed, the dress with a full skirt—he couldn’t tell exactly what kind of outfit it was—and the blue rose brooch resting on her chest... As he looked at her, Jinseong realized that the neckline of her dress was far more open than he’d expected and hurriedly tilted his head toward the ceiling.
Damn it... If Jiwoong hadn’t been spouting nonsense...
Yeah, they really were big. He had to admit men all thought the same thing. Just as Jinseong was clamping down on his lips, worried his expression might betray him, Yorktown suddenly lifted her head.
"Ah! Ji... Ah, no... Yoo Jinseong! What were you just thinking about when you looked at me?"
"Y-yes...?"
How was he supposed to say he’d been thinking her chest was huge?
It was a very embarrassing question, but by now it was easy for Jinseong to regain his composure. He reminded himself that this shipgirl was working.
"I... thought you were really beautiful..."
Even beautiful women don’t hate being told they’re beautiful. Jinseong gave the textbook compliment, praying she wouldn’t run away again.
"Eek...! U-um... R-right! You were thinking positively of me, weren’t you?"
Yorktown’s cheeks stayed rosy, but she smiled brightly and gently shook the hand she was holding with Jinseong’s. He could feel her tension easing significantly.
"I think I can clearly feel your mood... your emotions... even through the hand we’re holding. More specifically than just reading the atmosphere!"
Ah... So that’s why, when I held her hand at first, Yorktown understood on her own even though I hadn’t said anything...
"...Yes! That’s right. It felt just like that. Right now... you were thinking about when we first met in this room, weren’t you?"
"Huh...? Y-yes, yes. That’s right."
She was quickly becoming genuinely happy. Seeing Yorktown like that, Jinseong thought she looked like some noble young lady. But if that was the case, the feeling changed a bit.
"Having my thoughts read is... kind of scary..."
"Ah, it’s not like your thoughts or feelings are being read. It’s more like... like a little... resonance? Something like resonance. It’s my first time experiencing this too..."
Resonance that transmits feelings... If that was all it was, then it made sense. Jinseong could feel what kind of mood Yorktown was in as well.
"You... don’t seem like someone who would harm us..."
Now back to a relaxed voice, Yorktown began chatting lightly without letting go of their joined hands. Jinseong, too, found her ease contagious and quietly listened to her story.
"It’s not good news, but... there was a bit of an incident, so our Commander position in the Eagle Union is currently vacant."
"Ah, ahh... B-but is it okay for you to tell me that?"
"Ah, was I not supposed to? I think it’s fine. For some reason, I feel like I’ll be seeing Yoo Jinseong again soon."
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking came from the door. Yorktown, looking a little disappointed, let go of Jinseong’s hand.
"That concludes the face-to-face measurement. I had a lovely time~"
As if she already knew the signal, Yorktown tapped her feet lightly and stood up from the chair. Jinseong also started to rise after her, but Yorktown gently held his shoulder and kept him seated.
"Ah, please stay seated. Someone from our side will come in and explain the measurement results."
"Understood. Thank you for today, Yorktown... ma’am?"
"Hehe. Please just call me Yorktown. Then I’ll see you later."
Yorktown placed a hand over her chest and gave a polite bow before slowly leaving the room. Not long after, the door opened without a knock, and a woman in a white coat and business attire—someone who looked every bit the researcher—entered the room.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Rebecca, a researcher from Azur Lane. My name isn’t all that important, so you don’t need to remember it."
"Ah... Yes... Hello?"
"You’re probably curious about the measurement and your aptitude score, and... I expect we’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so I’d like to explain."
Rebecca sat down in the chair Yorktown had used and flipped through the documents she was holding.
"First, as for aptitude—the reason we go through all these inconvenient and varied measurement methods... even we haven’t fully defined what this Cube aptitude is. So... we’ve loosely defined this Cube aptitude, the resonance with shipgirls, the special changes that follow, and everything else as the 'power of emotion.'"
"Ah..."
That was an awfully loose definition for something called research. But then again, that probably just meant there were too many unknowns.
"Some people are a good match with Cubes, and some aren’t. We express that as an aptitude score. The higher the score, the more actively the Wisdom Cube responds to that person, and we’ve also confirmed that the shipgirls born from that Wisdom Cube have their own abilities enhanced as well. After using countless methods, we found that the effect was most definite when there was emotional exchange between the two parties... in other words, when resonance was active."
This was another new piece of information. Jinseong was too busy absorbing it to even think about replying.
"But unfortunately... we still haven’t solved questions like, 'Why does the Wisdom Cube need humans when it is the foundation of shipgirls?' or 'How does the power of emotion affect a shipgirl’s abilities?'"
Jinseong scratched his chin. That meant he hadn’t understood everything. Rebecca seemed to realize she’d been talking to herself and lowered the documents with a shrug.
"There’s a lot that’s interesting, but... at least this face-to-face measurement made one thing clear. Sergeant Yoo Jinseong, your measurement score of 98% is not an error. If anything, it could be even higher, but it certainly isn't lower."
He had felt that much himself. But there was still one thing Jinseong cared about most.
"Ah, no, I mean, that’s fine, but... what happens to my discharge now? There’s less than a month left..."
"Discharge? Ah... You’re Korean, right? Not an applicant..."
Rebecca muttered something about conscription countries while lightly biting her nail, then seemed to think for a moment before suddenly looking at Jinseong and flashing a fresh, cheerful smile.
"How about instead of discharge, we do a conversion~? Commander of Azur Lane. The benefits are... pretty good."
"..."
Jinseong’s face turned more ferocious than anyone had ever seen before.
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