The Broken Switch
"......"
Eila's slender fingers remained frozen, still clutching Hans's groin. The overwhelming, throbbing heat that usually filled her palm to the brim was nowhere to be found. What now rested in her hand was nothing but a lukewarm lump of flesh, limp and lifeless like wet cotton without any will or vigor.
She had surrendered to Hans's overwhelming masculinity time and again, captivated by its rigid strength. The unfamiliar texture now slipping between her fingers filled her with pure bewilderment.
I'm screwed. I'm really screwed.
Hans couldn't even breathe, paralyzed by terror. Eila's impossibly alluring breasts and legs still lay before him in the morning light, but the neural signals from his brain seemed to cut off before they could reach anywhere near his groin.
"Huh...?"
Eila lifted her head and looked at him. Her expression shifted strangely. She squeezed, rubbed, even lightly scratched with her nails. Hans's member remained completely unresponsive. It felt cold, like a dead thing.
"Hans...? What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
Eila asked, her eyes filled with genuine concern. That pure worry pierced Hans like a knife.
"N-no! It's just... well..."
Hans broke into a cold sweat, scrambling for an excuse.
"I was... too tired yesterday... It's probably just temporary! Haha! I've always been a bit weak in the mornings, you know..."
It was a ridiculous lie. He was the man who pitched a tent every single morning.
Eila's eyes narrowed. Was her pride wounded, or had her competitive spirit kicked in?
"Hmm... Is that so?"
She slipped under the blanket.
"You think I can't get it up? Just watch."
"E-Eila?! Wait a second!"
Before Hans could stop her, he felt a hot breath between his legs.
Slurp. Lick. Suck!
Eila's dazzling tongue technique began. The warm mucous membrane of her mouth enveloped the glans while her tongue fiercely stimulated the urethral opening. The vulgar sounds of her sucking with hollowed cheeks echoed through the room.
"Mmmph! Slurp! Lick!"
Normally, he would have bucked his hips within a minute. But now...
......
Hans stared blankly at the ceiling. He felt nothing. Well, he felt something—a warm, wet sensation. But that was all. It was like touching numbed gums after a dental anesthetic. His brain was screaming, Stand up! Please stand up, you stupid thing! but his lower body remained motionless, like a corpse with severed nerves.
After sucking like a beast for a long while, Eila finally poked her head out from under the blanket. Her face was flushed red from the heat and the shame of failure despite her best efforts. Bewilderment filled her expression.
"It... really won't get hard?"
She poked Hans's lifeless member in disbelief. It swayed weakly.
Hans hung his head like a condemned man.
"I'm sorry... Looks like it won't work today..."
......
Eila stared at him in silence. Her gaze held neither anger nor contempt—only deep pity and concern. That sympathetic look shattered Hans's mental state.
Just get angry! Yell at me! Don't look at me like that!
Unable to endure the shame, Hans shot to his feet.
"I-I just remembered something urgent! I'll be going now!"
He threw on his clothes in a panic and fled the room. He could hear Eila calling after him, but he didn't look back.
***
The morning streets of Ludel. Hans ran like a madman. His destination: the general store.
The potion... It has to be the potion! Side effects!
This was the price of chugging a week's worth of virility tonic in one go. Maybe there was an antidote or neutralizer. At the very least, he needed confirmation that it would wear off with time.
"Granny! Granny!"
Hans tried to burst into the store, but before he could open the door, he came face-to-face with the owner, who was sweeping outside.
"Goodness! What's all this racket so early in the morning?!"
The old woman raised her broom in surprise. Then she saw Hans's face and clicked her tongue.
"Oh dear... Look at you, young man. You look half-dead."
Hans's sunken eyes and dark circles made him look like someone whose life force had been completely drained.
"Granny! That medicine you gave me last time! The one with the bull's strength! After I took it..."
As Hans desperately clung to her, the old woman immediately understood and bellowed at the top of her lungs.
"What?! It won't stand?!"
......!!
Her voice carried like a megaphone. Passersby and farmers heading to the fields stopped to stare.
"N-no, that's not it... I just took too much..."
"I told you one dose is enough to cause trouble! You'll rot that thing right off!"
Confirmed kill. Hans's face went white.
"R-rot...?"
"If a young man gets too greedy, he'll be impotent for life! Rest until the effects wear off completely! Otherwise, it'll really rot and fall off!"
Snickering could be heard from the crowd.
"Tsk tsk... How many women did this young'un chase after..."
"Already finished? Poor thing."
"Impotent at that age. His life's over."
The men's murmurs stabbed like knives. Hans covered his face with his collar and slunk into an alley like a rat seeking its hole. He wanted to die of embarrassment.
***
In a back alley, Hans crouched down, clutching his head.
"What do I do... What am I supposed to do..."
Rot and fall off. Impotent for life. Could he even return to the inn like this? He imagined it—Masa grabbing him by the collar with a "My, my, staying out all night again?" and dragging him to the room. She'd lavish him with every kind of torturous caress on the bed, but his member would remain silent. Masa would look shocked and whimper, "Have I... lost my charm?" or her eyes would flash as she declared, "If it's broken, we'll fix it," pulling out terrifying tools.
"Aaaagh! No! That's really going to kill me! My mind can't take it!"
Hans shook his head violently. The inn was dangerous. The guild, being a public place, was at least safer.
Hans took a deep breath, put on a casual expression, and entered the guild lobby.
Ding.
"Welcome... Ah."
His eyes met Eila's at the counter. She had been looking at documents when she spotted him and froze. Then—
"Hans..."
Her usual coolness and playfulness were gone, replaced by deep worry and concern.
"How's your body...? Did you go to the hospital? You don't look well at all..."
Her gaze naturally drifted toward his groin before snapping back to his face. Just get angry. Just mock me. That pitying look only made him feel more miserable. His pride as a man plummeted straight through the floor into the basement.
"N-no! I'm fine! I'm perfectly healthy! Hahaha!"
Hans laughed awkwardly and avoided her eyes. He made a beeline for the quest board like he was fleeing.
Quests... I need a quest. Something far away... A quest that won't let me come back for days...
He had to avoid women. He needed to hide until his body recovered—or at least until the shame faded. He scanned the board. [Herb Gathering], [Slime Extermination]... Those would end too quickly.
Then his eyes caught an old quest notice in the corner.
[Urgent: Orc Nest Subjugation (Long-term expedition expected)]
B-rank difficulty. Generous reward. Most importantly, the words "long-term expedition" appealed to him.
This is it.
Hans tore down the notice. Four middle-aged men with beer bellies were sitting at a corner table in the lobby, drinking.
"Hey, young friend over there! Interested in that quest?"
The burly man who seemed to be the leader called out to him.
"Ah, yes. I'm... an archer. Mind if I join?"
"Oh! An archer? Welcome! We were just short on ranged fighters. But you..."
The man studied Hans's face and burst into hearty laughter.
"What's with your face? Looks like you had your energy sucked out all night? Bwahaha!"
......
Hans didn't even have the strength to reply.
"Alright, you're in! We're leaving right now. That okay with you?"
"Yes! Right now! Please!"
Hans brought the quest notice to Eila.
"I... I'll be going on this subjugation with this party. We need to leave immediately."
Eila stared at him in disbelief, her eyes filled with worry.
"What? You're not well and you're going on a subjugation?! You need to rest! You'll really hurt yourself at this rate!"
"It's fine! A man needs work to get better! Please just stamp it quickly! Those guys are waiting!"
Hans stubbornly insisted. Eila sighed deeply at his desperate expression and stamped the document.
"Haa... Fine. But don't push yourself... If anything happens, come straight back. Got it? I'm worried."
She took his hand and squeezed it.
"I'll be waiting."
Those warm words nearly brought tears to Hans's eyes.
I'll fix it... I'll definitely fix it and come back, Eila.
He turned to follow the men with grim determination, then stopped short.
He had no bow, no arrows, no spare clothes—just his bare body.
"W-wait, sirs! Let me grab my things real quick! Please wait just a moment!"
Hans didn't wait for an answer and sprinted toward the inn at full speed. As he neared it, he realized going through the front door would mean getting caught by Masa and never escaping. He climbed the pipes at the back of the inn, scaled the wall with practiced ease, slipped into his room through the second-floor window, snatched his bow, quiver, and backpack, then slid back down the wall.
Fortunately, he avoided Masa's notice. On the way back, he stopped at the grocery store to buy jerky and emergency rations, then returned to the guild, panting heavily.
The men were still leisurely sipping their beers, waiting for him.
"Haa... Hah... L-let's go!"
Hans gasped for breath as he followed them out.