The Last Gentleman

Chapter 32

"Full Customization"

This is the final step before becoming a true gentleman, the skin of a gentleman.

As an essential medium in connecting with the growth system, once the individual completes their career choice through a ceremonial activation, the skin will be repurposed. The tailor will transform it into the essential attire every gentleman needs. This clothing, made primarily from the gentleman’s own skin, not only provides effective "pathogen isolation"—allowing gentlemen to face pathogens directly and venture into the mysterious and dangerous Grey Zone for various investigations and clean-up activities.

It also makes the connection between the individual and the growth system more tangible, allowing one to assess their own state.

Different skin materials result in different clothing qualities, naturally...

Of course, this is just the initial outfit, merely representing the beginning.

Gentlemen who join the organization can acquire more skin through subsequent missions, and those with outstanding performance may even meet the First Gentleman.

The skin acquired later can be used to enhance, reinforce, or even completely remake the clothing.

However, while the "gentleman's skin" obtained through the examination is only a starting point, Yi Chen’s step forward is slightly larger than expected.

*[Second Floor]*

A spacious, unobstructed open-plan space with walls and ceilings covered in large mirrors, resembling more of a dance studio—a stark contrast to the first floor, which is filled with human sculptures.

The customer only needs to stand in the center, and the shop owner can use the mirrors to read the individual’s body information as the basis for full customization.

This information also includes disposition. After a thorough observation of Yi Chen through this method, the shop owner let down his guard entirely and introduced himself:

"I am Korol Ivan, the owner of this nameless tailor shop. I cut off ties with the organization a while back and no longer handle clothing orders from them. I only occasionally lend a hand to friends when I’m in a good mood.

I didn’t expect that rigid owl would make an exception and secretly send you my way... but bringing such a substantial original skin indeed warrants serious attention from him.

Before we start the full customization, I have a few questions for you.

Briefly introduce yourself, including your background, key experiences, especially the choice of letter.”

"William Behrens..."

Yi Chen began recounting his experience in the 'Seven-Day Cemetery'. When Ivan, the shop owner, heard that this young man had 'taken up the path halfway' and killed infected beings with an ordinary human body, topping the examination, he couldn't help but widen his eyes, giving Yi Chen a thorough once-over.

When he further heard that Yi Chen chose the mysterious purple letter over the excellent blue and black options, the shop owner perked up.

He didn’t ask for the reasoning behind it.

He simply took a deep breath as if bracing for a major project.

“You... are indeed unique. Now I completely understand why the owl chose you.

Because of the complexity of your situation and the distinctiveness of the skin you brought, the full customization is expected to take 24 hours. You’ll need to be on-call throughout... until the production is complete. You can sleep here in the meantime.”

“Here?”

"Yes... pick any spot.

You’re marked as a guest now; those stone statues downstairs won’t attack you.

Finally, keep absolute silence in the tailor shop.

Unless you hear me call, don’t enter the tailoring room or disturb my work.”

Ivan took the heavy black box, stumbling slightly as he walked toward a large mirror, opening a hidden door behind it.

A pungent gas wafted out, making Yi Chen, standing several meters away, feel a bit uncomfortable.

Rather than a tailoring room, it looked more like a specialized laboratory storing dangerous reagents.

Instinctively, Yi Chen wanted to sneak a peek, but one look from Ivan made him reconsider.

Click!

The hidden door locked.

Yi Chen shrugged and leaned back against the wall to sit.

"Anyway, since I haven’t been officially assigned a place to stay, resting here for a day isn’t too bad."

The mental exhaustion from the professional ritual ceremony washed over his mind, and he soon curled up in the corner against the wall and drifted off to sleep.

However, he was repeatedly woken up during his sleep to undergo some strange and even bizarre measurements.

For example:

Thin needles were inserted into his finger joints to measure their internal diameter, or his clothing was lifted to record the number of folds around his navel, as well as the curve changes of his navel while standing, sitting, and lying down.

Even the more private “back entrance” was measured for various parameters.

On one occasion, he groggily woke up and found the shopkeeper squatting in front of him, meticulously jotting down notes in a little notebook like some kind of pervert.

Of course,

there were times when things seemed somewhat normal. He went through about five rounds of trying on sample outfits, each time met with a dissatisfied look from the shopkeeper, with hints of murderous intent... until, on the sixth attempt, a slightly satisfied expression finally emerged.

In this way, he spent the entire day in a state of extreme unease, feeling constantly subjected to perverted peering and physical probing.

There was only one hour left until the anticipated custom order was ready.

Although Yichen was still leaning quietly against the wall, motionless, he was beginning to feel a growing sense of anticipation, even imagining several different styles of gentlemanly attire.

Just then,

a scattering of footsteps echoed from downstairs, suggesting that another guest had arrived at the tailor shop.

Thinking that his [outfit] was in its final stages, Yi Chen moved downstairs with steps as light as feathers, hoping to remind the other guest to stay quiet.

As he reached the corner of the staircase, he came face-to-face with the mysterious guest, who wore a fully enclosed mask painted with colorful patterns and lacking any openings.

The man was dressed in a flamboyantly colorful suit, as if various hues of paint had accidentally spilled all over it.

However,

this close proximity allowed Yi Chen to catch a faint, elegant fragrance that seemed to come from the person’s body.

"You are..."

Yi Chen immediately remembered.

This flamboyantly dressed youth was a fellow candidate from his assessment group, ranked at the same level as Edmond and the others.

However, his score reached [92], placing him second only to Yi Chen among this batch of candidates.

During the assessment, he was noted for single-handedly killing the fully-scaled [Town Mayor] of Green Lake Town and completing a ‘complete purge’ of the town hall... unfortunately, he had focused on the wrong investigation direction and didn’t, like Yi Chen, manage to confront and eliminate the giant eye lurking at the lake’s bottom.

Yet,

Yi Chen’s impression of him was only this deep, and he hadn’t noticed his presence when they first entered the city.

Suddenly, the multicolored mask pressed in close, brushing up and down against Yi Chen’s face.

He could faintly hear breathing from beneath the mask, as if the man was scenting Yi Chen’s essence.

This continued for a full minute.

Finally, the mask pulled back,

and a voice that was a blend of male and female tones, leaning more towards the latter, spoke:

“Hey~ man!

With a physique like yours, how did you manage to kill the [Observer]? And your ‘Emblem’ isn’t clearly displayed; it seems to be hidden in a more private area.

Would you mind setting aside some time so I can closely examine your body?

Of course…”

As he said this,

he adjusted his patterned gloves slightly, pressing his five splayed fingers to his slightly raised chest.

"‘Equivalent exchange,’ you can inspect my body as well.

After all, my emblem is also hidden in a very mysterious place~ so, what do you say?”