Ability Verification (1)

A short while later, Choi Soohan stepped into the tent and reported that everyone had arrived.

Once the report was done, she turned a rather heated look on me. Judging by the way her petals were growing wetter by the second, she'd been conditioned into something like Pavlov's dog. Every time she laid eyes on me, dopamine dumped on reflex, and the memory of being broken into a masochistic bitch came roaring back.

She was in the Time River dress uniform. The thing was made from aberrant materials, so it did serve as armor... but was she not planning to fight this time?

"Soohan's coming along too, isn't she? She doesn't need armor?"

Yeongeun followed my gaze to Choi Soohan, glared for a moment, then let out a short laugh.

"What use is a pathetic idiot who couldn't even tank a single Mid-Rank Variant and took a critical wound? She's perfect as a pack mule. There's plenty that needs hauling, and it would be a problem if she up and died fighting aberrants on a whim."

At an attitude cold enough to drip frost, Soohan hunched her shoulders and bowed her head.

The reason Yeongeun was so sharp with her... The day before yesterday, while I was on the phone with Yeongeun in a spare moment, I'd mentioned Soohan's condition and that I'd given her a little discipline. When she asked how, I explained it in suitably vague terms. She went silent for a beat, then flew into a rage, screaming that she'd sell Soohan off to a high-class brothel.

...The result of forgetting that Yeongeun was no less of a masochistic pervert herself.

"Well then, Seoha, let's get you changed too."

Yeongeun chased Soohan out of the tent and began attending to my clothes. Seeing that, Franc and Hwayeon latched on as well, stripping me and bringing armor to dress me in. I wouldn't have traded places with an Arab king.

I put on the top and bottoms Hwayeon had brought, cut from Forspeed Cheetah hide, and over them the jacket Yeongeun had provided—reinforced at the joints and vital points with something hard and rigid, like bark of unknown origin. The leather gloves were the knuckle-baring sort that would set a middle-school edgelord's blood on fire, and the long boots, rising past the knee, were made of some material I couldn't name, so well ventilated I could feel the wind brushing through. They weighed nothing at all, and moved like a second skin. Best of all, the gear ran in shades of blue, which I liked. Maybe because it matched the color of my Phase Power?

"Well? I color-coordinated it in blue, since you're the Blue Genius. Does it suit you, Seoha?"

"...I suddenly hate it."

I pouted at the three lovers laughing themselves silly, and Yeongeun fetched something shaped like a military combat knife, knelt before me, and fastened it at my waist.

She explained that even among the dagger collection she treasured, this was one of the finest—the Extrema Ratio EX, a phase-equipment version of the Extrema Ratio knife used by European special forces.

EX short for extreme? Extrema Ratio Extreme? What a weird name.

Apparently they'd poured their hearts into forging it after the Phase World appeared, and there were only ten of these military combat knives in the entire world, hence the EX...

"That's why it carries a premium. One of these runs about fifty billion won."

"Why is it that expensive?!"

"They alloyed byproducts of a Peak-Rank Variant with rare minerals steeped in Phase Power, then worked the metal. A portion of a Peak-Rank phase stone went into the forging as well. You can't buy it with cash, of course. Phase goods are traded in kind as a rule. Go on—draw it."

I drew it from the leather sheath, and a chilling thirty centimeters of water-clear blade came free. Single-edged, long and triangular, with a point sharp enough that it looked fit for both the thrust and the cut.

"Oh. What a beautiful dagger!"

Franc's eyes sparkled. A knight, after all—she had a thing for blades.

I stared at the water-clear edge with my mouth hanging open just like hers, and suddenly remembered the ability users at the museum injecting TP into a spear. I angled the blade toward the ground, cycled Mana Sieve, and pushed TP into the dagger—and a terrifying blue keen poured out in streams, as if it meant to cut through everything in existence.

"Oh my?!"

"Mm...!"

Oh, I felt like I'd become a swordmaster. On a whim I drove the dagger straight into the floor, and it sank in with hardly any resistance.

"...!"

A gasp of admiration escaped me, the same as my lovers, who were holding their breath.

This was good. Too good. I would have been fine with a dagger that simply held an edge. Using something like this to gut a fish and scrape the scales felt like a waste. A fifty-billion-won carving knife.

Still, I couldn't leave it unused, not when I thought of Yeongeun's consideration. I'd have to ask Hwayeon for an everyday dagger later.

When we finished preparing and stepped outside, people poured from the fifteen or so tents pitched across an open field of more than thirty thousand square meters. We climbed the three-meter platform at the center, and below it they began clustering in twos and threes by affiliation—the Ability User Association with the Association, Time River and the government contingent with their own.

From among them, Park Jiwoong, boss of the government raid team Hwarang, approached with nine ability users. From the Association side came Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo, Mister Hwa Joong-kang, Yoo Chae-rin, and seven more. On our Time River side, Sophia walked over with the picture of demure fragility, Team 2 Leader Kim Ga-min, and Hwayeon's diehard fan, Team 3 Leader Yoo Min-hee. Behind them, twenty-seven support ability users carried enormous backpacks, each big enough to swallow two or three ordinary people.

The entry force was twenty-eight, plus twenty-seven supporters. Actual combat would be me and Franc alone. The rest would follow at my back, ready for emergencies, and record the fight on their Certifiers for verification. The remaining three hundred seventy-four—medical staff on standby, network reporters, foreign correspondents, and security—were staying behind.

With the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ability users gathered and the rest of us standing on the platform, the hundred-odd foreign correspondents packed into the field kept firing their flashes.

Mm. Standing up there with Yeongeun, I felt countless gazes fly in and stick.

"Is that him?"

"Doesn't look all that reliable."

"You really think he has three kinds of base capabilities?"

"I find it hard to believe he took a High-Rank Variant alone."

Curiosity, jealousy, envy—they mixed together and seemed to prick my skin.

"Seoha. You needn't pay any mind to worthless talk. In a little while they'll change their tune as if they'd never said a word."

"That's right. Once this verification is over, that talk will vanish. Anyone headed higher is easily exposed to the envy rising from below. Ignore it. No need to let it catch your ankle."

My expression must have soured, because Franc and Hwayeon soothed me in low voices.

It wasn't that I particularly cared. Whatever they said, I only had to walk my own road. More than anything, most of Time River already looked on me favorably. That was enough.

I glanced at Team 3 Leader Yoo Min-hee, who was glaring at me, then at Yeongeun as she pinned her hair up. Her manner was utterly natural, as if gathering and holding the eyes of more than four hundred people were nothing at all. When every gaze fixed on her, wireless mic in hand, she opened her mouth with a leader's dignity.

"I will take your presence here to mean preparations are complete. No need for a long speech, so let us begin the ability verification of the Blue Genius, the hope of Korea's ability-user world. Please take care that no one fails to enter—hold firmly to the shoulder of the person in front of you."

...Huh? That was it? Don't people usually speechify for two or three minutes?

Yeongeun set the mic down, sent Hwayeon to the center of the platform—stairs descending north, south, east, and west—and took her hand. Behind Hwayeon stood Boss Park Jiwoong and the Hwarang ability users. I took her right. Behind her, Sophia and Time River. On her left, Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo with the Association ability users. With Hwayeon at the center, Hwarang, Time River, and the Ability User Association stood arrayed like a biohazard mark.

Yeongeun confirmed everyone was properly placed, nodded to Hwayeon, and Hwayeon shouted.

In that instant, countless ripples began to fill the space within a sixty-meter radius of the platform. Spatial ripples born from Hwayeon's body cascaded through everyone linked to her. The ripples bursting out in every direction soon merged into one, and after the sensation of being sucked into a black hole and spat from a white hole in turn, we were standing on the earth of the Phase World.

I opened my eyes and looked around. Yellowish ground, sparsely dotted with grotesquely shaped trees, stretched away beneath an ash-gray sky all the way to a ridge that wasn't particularly high. From eleven o'clock around to six, wasteland. When I turned the other way, tall trees blocked one side of the view. Between them I caught black earth. That had to be the swamp Hwayeon had mentioned.

"Beyond the trees it was forest, but the dense jungle blocks most of the sunlight, so it's pitch-dark. More than that, trees growing up from the swamp floor make bogs that look like solid ground lurk everywhere like traps. It's extremely dangerous, so be careful."

I nodded. Gloomy as all hell, this Phase World.

"I will conduct a headcount. Ability users, please gather."

Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo stepped forward, drew every eye, and began the count. I stood between Hwayeon and Yeongeun and swept the surroundings with Spatial Perception for anything that might be a threat, but the only living things were the fifty-eight of us in the clearing, myself included.

"Franc. Check from the sky whether there are any living things nearby."

"Yes."

At my request, Franc—dressed in a simple frilled T-shirt and cotton pants—lifted herself high into the sky, and the ability users gathering at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kang Hyunwoo's order turned their eyes on her as one. She rose smoothly to an altitude of 1.4 kilometers and surveyed the area, and they murmured in surprise. Among them, Kim Ga-min looked up and let out a gasp, her eyes wider than the rest.

"Oh my... That's Lady Flandre, isn't it? To fly so smoothly—she's on par with a B-Class wind-attribute ability user."

She was a mid-tier C-Class wind user herself, so the comparison came instantly. Those I took for wind-attribute nodded along with Team Leader Kim Ga-min.

I watched her track Franc, climbing without recoil or sound, then turned to Hwayeon and Yeongeun.

"Time River is just us?"

Me and Franc, Hwayeon and Sophia, Kim Ga-min, Yoo Min-hee—six of us, and only seven supporters.

"Yes. You, who sit outside the class system; me, B-Class; one peak C-Class; and two upper-mid C-Class. In combat power we don't lose to the Association or the government. If anything, we're stronger."

Well, that was true enough. In theory that was the equivalent of five peak C-Class—the tier said to be capable of taking a High-Rank Variant. The other side did have the Branch Director, a B-Class artillery battery. The raid party's classes were extremely well balanced, too: one B-Class physical reinforcement and three C-Class, one B-Class elemental and seven C-Class, a C-Class recovery user and a detection user, and a number of D-Class recovery users besides.

I told Hwayeon what Spatial Perception had shown me.

"For now, there's no life response within a 1.5-kilometer radius."

"When we were clearing this place, we came from that ridge to this clearing, set up a temporary base, and searched the area. Then we learned it was the habitat of swamp trolls and Swamp Trents, and withdrew. This vicinity was cleaned and surveyed not long ago, so aberrants shouldn't appear."

"Yeah?"

"Swamp trolls and Swamp Trents come out of that swamp, and fighting there is terribly disadvantageous for humans, so we couldn't engage on ground that favored the enemy. In raw attack power alone they're comparable to the lowest of the Peak-Rank Variants, so the terrain penalty could compound the damage. In the end we gave up the clear and pulled back."

That made sense. In a wetland—a swamp, rather—a lightning-attribute user would be useful, but it was a rare attribute, so there were few of them, and even if you had one, all that water could drag allies into the blast. On top of that, fire, which worked on trolls and trents, would have its power halved. Not being able to use fire, the element with the greatest force against living things, was a serious loss of strength. Physical reinforcement users having their movement cut down by the mire was a threat in itself.

While Hwayeon and I were talking, Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo and the Hwarang boss approached Yeongeun.

"No one from the Association was left behind."

"Hwarang as well—all ten, plus all ten supporters, have completed entry."

"We've all entered too, all fifteen, so let us take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠position and secure a staging point."

Both men answered at once.

"Yes."

Kang Hyunwoo nodded and gestured to Yoo Chae-rin behind him. At the signal, she shouted to the Association ability users in his place.

"Ability User Association troops, assemble!!"

"Hwarang, prepare to move!!"

So Yeongeun's taking team leader? Well—by age, by status, and by ability, it ought to be her.

"Time River finished preparing ages ago~!"

With Sophia's bright smile in my direction, the verification team began moving away from the forest.

Franc, done with her survey from the sky, descended in front of me, then floated along behind us as she spoke.

"Where the ground lay bare, I saw no living, moving creatures. There were a few movements in the forest, but the trees blocked my view. I would need to draw closer to be certain."

"Then once the base is up, Seoha will move out to find the aberrants. You two divide your people into thirds and search for a Return Point. The Association and Hwarang will each run one team of three."

Having taken Franc's report, Yeongeun issued the orders to Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo and Boss Park Jiwoong and kept walking.

Hwayeon and Yeongeun flanked me, with the Branch Director and the Hwarang boss following behind, and having heard Franc, both men looked at her with admiration in their faces. Kang Hyunwoo in particular wore a look overflowing with hunger for talent.

"To conduct aerial reconnaissance so naturally... Her utility is high, and the danger during exploration would drop sharply."

"That spirit uses lightning and acts like a person, doesn't she? Her handling of a crisis should be excellent, so she'd easily do the work of any ordinary ability user. Not only the Blue Genius himself, but even the spirit with him is that outstanding. Time River has, quite literally, taken a phoenix into its arms."

"The one holding it would be our elder sister, I should think."

"Hahaha. You seem rather regretful?"

"The Ability User Association is an organization focused on protecting ability users, not on pursuing profit. In a sense, a form like this—where the Blue Genius can act as he pleases—may be the most ideal."

Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo, a B-Class elemental, and Boss Park Jiwoong, a C-Class analysis-type, laughed easily and chatted like old friends.

...Just as Hwayeon had said, Boss Park Jiwoong looked like the easygoing uncle from next door.

Meanwhile, I'd expected Sophia to come running and cling to me without a shred of decorum, but she was following at a measured pace with Kim Ga-min and Yoo Min-hee, expression and posture both demure. Because Yeongeun was here? Team Leader Yoo Min-hee still looked like she'd bitten into something foul.

After about thirty minutes of travel, I detected a Mid-High Rank Variant with a Phase Power of 5,600, underground a kilometer and a half ahead. Ten meters beneath the surface. From its shape, it was a colossal worm about four meters long and fifty centimeters thick through the body, its front end like an enormous drill. It wasn't staying still—it began to writhe. It must have sensed the vibrations we made as we moved.

And in an instant it started boring through the earth and charging straight at us!

It wasn't coming diagonally at our vanguard. Was it planning to erupt from underground at the center of the verification team? An ambush like that would be dangerous, and neither Hwayeon nor Yeongeun seemed to have noticed.

I quickened my pace, passed Yeongeun, and moved to the front. From my finger I fired a corrected Mana Laser, splitting the drill of the thing charging at the team lengthwise and chopping its long body into chunks. Even at D-Class it had been enough to cut down a mid-high Elephant Uros, and now that I was C-Class and the power had grown, the thing might as well have been tofu. Absolute tofu.

"Wha—?! Underground approach detec—ted... huh?"

An earth-attribute ability user cried out to warn of the danger, then trailed off and stared at me.

Aha. So earth-attribute users could monitor underground as well.

The ground in front of me suddenly heaved, and with her shout, everyone except Franc drew their weapons as one and looked this way with tense faces. Mana Laser was colorless and transparent, so maybe it just looked like I'd pointed a few times and the earth had flipped itself over.

Come to think of it, the laser's range seemed to have grown. It stretched nearly three hundred meters. During practice I'd only fired it short, so I hadn't checked the length, but looking now, it had definitely gained another hundred meters.

"Seoha? What's going on?"

Yeongeun halted the column and ran to my side. Kang Hyunwoo, the Time River ladies, and the Hwarang boss came too, and their mouths fell open at the overturned earth in front of me.

Other people were around, so I ought to use polite speech with Yeongeun.

"A Mid-High Rank Variant was approaching from underground, so I killed it."

"Underground? And mid-high? What did it look like?"

Branch Director Kang Hyunwoo looked back and forth between me and the torn ground, thoroughly startled.

"A four-meter worm with a drill for a head."

"A Worm Driller... Yoon Mirae!"

He turned and called a woman's name—the earth-attribute user who had shouted a moment ago.

"Yes, Director!"

"There's a Worm Driller carcass underground. Can you bring it up?"

"Yes!"

Huh. Wasn't she the woman who'd buried the Soul Reaper's box under earth at the museum? Faint brown hair long enough to cover her neck, she set both hands on the ground at his word and focused. Then, just as last time, TP drained steadily from her palms, and the Worm Driller's carcass—hacked into several pieces—began to be pushed up by the soil.

"Damn. Seoha's back blocked it, so it didn't record properly. Hwayeon? Did you get that just now?"

"I happened to be looking at Seoha, so I was able to record it."

"Let me see."

"Whoa. The Worm Driller is completely chopped to pieces."

"Haa...! That hard bone drill..."

"Did you see that just now? What happened?"

"No idea. He just waved his hand, and the ground split and collapsed."

"An attack technique with an invisible effect? Was there something like that in the skill shop?"

"As if."

At the murmuring I looked back. People were staring at me and at the ground before me, wearing absurd expressions mixed with bewilderment.

"Aigoo! My, my! He's chopped that Worm Driller right to pieces!"

While they murmured, Mister Hwa Joong-kang made a fuss, then darted over to the carcass, drew the military sword at his waist, and began cutting into the Worm Driller's crimson hide. What was he doing? He looked extremely excited.

The Branch Director and the Hwarang boss exchanged a look, approached the drill, ran their hands over the cut, and clicked their tongues.

"He's sliced this hard bone drill like tofu."

"More than that, Director—did you see the Blue Genius sense what was underground? I didn't notice a thing."

"Which is why our elder sister clings so greedily and won't let go. Hey! Deputy! Come collect the drill!"

"Hah... Even a laser cutter would take days to cut this. Look at the cross-section. Smooth as a mirror."

Bewilderment was spreading across the faces of the verification team, the Director included. The ability I'd just shown seemed utterly absurd to them.

More to the point, did the Director not feel Yeongeun glaring at him with terrifying eyes right now? Talking about greed in front of her—wasn't he afraid of what came after?

At the same time, Mister Hwa Joong-kang laughed loud and held up a red, twisting length of intestine.

"Uhaha! Look at this! By some miracle, the red intestines are intact!"

I had no idea what red intestines were even used for, that he should be so delighted. He looked ready to break into a jig.

Yeongeun watched the footage on Hwayeon's Certifier, nodded, and came over to me.

"Seoha? Everything that happens here needs to be captured on video if we can. From now on, when an aberrant appears, could you signal first?"

"Yeah. I will."

"By the way, was that just now Mana Laser?"

I nodded. In the meantime Hwayeon took a round container from one of our Time River supporters, went to the delighted Mister Hwa Joong-kang, and snatched the red intestines from his hands.

"Per the contract, this is a byproduct of something Seoha killed alone, so Time River claims ownership."

"...! N-no. See here, Time River boss! J-just a taste, if you'd only let me..."

"No."

Mister Hwa Joong-kang begged and pleaded with Hwayeon, who wasn't even half his age, but she refused with a firm face.

"It has to be fed to Seoha."

"......"

Everyone who heard her, man and woman alike, turned burning eyes on me. I had no idea what the stuff even was, that they should react like that.

"Aigo~ That boy has it too good to even speak of..."

A moment later, Phase Power began pouring from the Worm Driller's carcass in full. A mid-high rank could only be fully absorbed by E-Class ability users and below, and there were no E-Class users on the verification team. The supporters didn't seem interested in absorbing Phase Power either. Franc alone took in a portion of what flowed from the carcass as it broke down.

They dismantled it, recovered the byproducts and the meat, buried the scraps, and moved on for another ten minutes or so until we were four kilometers from the forest.

Was that thing even edible? I mean, I'd caught and eaten all sorts of aberrants, but a worm was a bit much.

Anyway, we reached a place where the ground was reasonably flat and the view was open, and at Yeongeun's direction we began helping the supporters pitch large tents. At her request, Franc went up into the sky and started keeping watch. I tried to help with the canvas, but they waved me off and told me to go away, so I got a little sulky and wandered around looking at the tents instead.

They could have just said I didn't need to help. Telling me to get lost—that was too much!

In the blink of an eye the supporters raised six thin tents, five meters by ten, and one eight-by-fifteen, and started sorting the luggage. One of them carried several flat slabs about fifteen centimeters thick, stopped in front of each tent, pulled something like a stopper, and tossed the slab inside. Through Spatial Perception I caught the thump, and an inner tent unfolding to fill the canvas.

Ooh. That was neat.

Then another support girl carried a bag, a lantern, and a few other things into a tent, set them down, and hung a nameplate at the entrance.

I went up to the dark-brown mottled canvas and lifted the flap. Inside, a half-transparent, scratchy cloth blocked the entrance. So this was the tent that had unfolded from the slab. I was touching the cloth when Sophia came over at a trot.

"This is your first Phase World camp, isn't it, Seoha?"

"I've roughed it in the wild plenty of times. A camp like this is a first."

She wore a puppyish smile, tilting this way and that as she hovered behind me.

"Did you have something to say?"

"I was really surprised just now! Sensing an aberrant that was underground! And was that attack Mana Bullet? I've never seen a transparent attribute attack before! As expected of someone who earned the title Blue Genius—you're amazing!"

What was I supposed to do with this blonde girl who kept stepping over the line?

"Well, this ability is why I've died and lived through a lot. Choi Soohan, don't just stand there. Go help the others."

"Ngh... Yes."

I gave the order to Choi Soohan, who had been standing blankly behind me, and she flinched and went to help the supporters. Sophia watched her with a puzzled look, then turned back to me.

"Seoha~, where are you sleeping tonight? The ladies' flower garden, of course?"

"Why would you think that? I'm sleeping in the Time River tent."

At that she beamed and wrapped herself around my arm, and I began to worry for her life.

"Then sleep with us in the women's tent~? If it's you, everyone would welcome it!"

"No."

"Ehh?! Why not? A place full of women is fun, you know?!"

Fun, my ass. One man in a place with only women—that's the token male. Who doesn't know that means you end up a slave?

"If it were you, Sophia, would you want to be alone somewhere crawling with men?"

"That's different!"

"It's the same, though?"

In that instant Yeongeun came up behind us with a terrifying expression and seized Sophia's head in both hands.

"Eek?!"

"Seoha is sleeping with us, you know...? If you insist, shall you sleep with this auntie too...?"

Sophia's face became that of a terrified puppy. She trembled and shook her head with difficulty. Yeongeun stared at her steadily, then let go of her head and smacked her backside with all her strength.

A heavy smack rang out.

"Kyah?!"

Judging by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way that distinctly Western, voluptuous flesh rippled and sent a wave through her leather pants, the blow had been quite hard. Struck, Sophia was driven five or six steps forward, then dropped to the ground and started bawling.

A fully grown woman, in front of everyone... I was staring at her in disbelief when Yeongeun took my hand and pulled me into the tent.

Hey—Yeongeun was doing this, and Hwayeon wasn't checking her. I wondered why, and saw she was talking with the Branch Director and the Hwarang boss. Franc was on watch in the sky.

Inside the dim tent, a wide space opened up, big enough for seven people to stretch out and sleep in comfort. The other tents had a passage down the middle and room to lie on either side, like military barracks, but this one was different: only on one side, a soft mat had inflated up to knee height. Curious, I pressed it. Fluffy, like an air mattress full of air, and whether it was the cloth, the feel was like a high-end bed. On top were sleeping bags and a few things needed to get through the night, and against one wall sat what I took to be Hwayeon and Yeongeun's bags.

Yeongeun rummaged through her own bag, pulled out something like a round cosmetics bottle, popped the cap, and started spraying her mouth with a chk-chk. I sat on the mattress and watched.

"What are you doing?"

With no one else around I spoke casually, and Yeongeun, who had been spraying for a while, turned to me with a sultry smile. At that smile, against my will, my cock twitched and began to rear.

Right. That face—it was like the day she'd pounced on me...!

"For seventeen days, I haven't tasted Seoha's candy stick. Yeongeun can't hold back anymore!"

Wha—?!

With a soft hiss, her tights-plate armor shifted into tights form. Then she slipped between my legs, crouched, and started pulling my pants down.

"W-wait! There are people outside!"

I grabbed my waistband in a hurry. She simply started stripping me by force, her voice thick with desire and utterly firm.

"It's fine! I'll show you the technique I practiced on bananas and sausages!!"

"What are you talking about!?"

Then she looked at my cock, furious and twitching, and with a rapturous expression swallowed it down in one mouthful.

"Mr. Jung Seoha? Your gait is strange. Are you all right?"

"Ah, it's the first time I've worn these clothes, so they feel a bit awkward. Haha."

"Is that so? Clothes made from Forspeed leather—they must be terribly expensive."

...Fortunately, Team 2 Leader Kim Ga-min didn't seem to have caught on.

My lower belly felt a little empty from having so much vital essence sucked out all at once. Strangely, Yeongeun's mouth had been tingling and hot, and I'd climaxed in an instant.

...Was it because of whatever she'd sprayed in there?

Over there, Yeongeun was smiling to the brim as she gathered the various leaders and discussed how they would proceed, and whether because swallowing my semen had satisfied her immensely, a flush and a glow poured across her face. But Hwayeon seemed to have noticed too. She kept glancing at me between lines of conversation, and it was a little scary.

I'd better eat a big lunch.