The Lower Body Rental Coupon

"Hmm... Did I borrow too many?" I muttered, feeling the weight of my bag as I wondered if I'd gone overboard with the fantasy novels. I often borrowed fantasy novels from rental shops, but today I'd stopped by the school library to look for assignment-related books and ended up discovering a whole section of them. Surprised that the university library even carried fantasy novels, I browsed around and unexpectedly found a popular one making waves lately: The Woodcutter Who Hid the Celestial Maiden's Robe.

Realizing there was no need to pay at the rental shop when I could borrow from the library for free, I'd checked out a stack. The shop near the back gate required returns within seven days, but the library gave a full month. With that generous deadline in mind, I'd somehow grabbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ten volumes. I'd skipped it at first after seeing the title, but since it was doing so well, I'd figured I'd give it a try someday... and now I'd borrowed far too many. My bag was heavy. Climbing the hill to the dorm later was going to leave me pretty winded.

As I walked, a campus café caught my eye. It was a fairly large place with floor-to-ceiling glass windows facing outward. "Maybe grab a coffee?" The sight of the café reminded me of the café coupons the dorm handed out. The dorm often gave away coupons for the hamburger place near the back gate or the on-campus cafés. I still had one coffee coupon left from last time.

Normally I almost never went to cafés alone. I usually just used the vending machine inside the dorm—cheaper and more convenient. Sometimes I'd go with department friends, but I always thought the prices were steep, especially for a broke college student. On any other day I would've just walked right past. But now I had a free coupon. Wasting a free coupon would be stupid. I swung my bag around, pulled out the coffee coupon, and stepped inside.

—Ding-a-ling.

The bell on the door chimed as I entered. I headed straight for the counter. Just as I was about to order, I noticed a small advertisement board off to the side.

—Caramel ice cream meets latte~!

The ad showed a round scoop of light-brown caramel ice cream perched on top of a latte, about the size of a baby's fist. It looked like they served it with a scoop of caramel ice cream on the latte, sort of like a sweet version of affogato. Since I loved sweet things, the new menu caught my interest. I'd been planning to order my usual vanilla latte, but now I was torn. Both the vanilla latte and the caramel ice cream were things I liked. I enjoyed the subtle vanilla aroma and sweetness, but I also loved the unique flavor of caramel ice cream. I remembered always choosing caramel flavor at convenience stores with friends when I was a kid. While everyone else got melon flavor, I was the only one who liked caramel. Like all ice cream, it melted fast and often got all over my hands. My childhood friend's little sister used to make a mess with her melon ice cream too. I never cared about my own hands getting sticky—I was too busy licking the caramel ice cream. When I licked it, it melted smoothly and coated my tongue like a sweet, fragrant glaze. Caramel ice cream was strangely addictive. A combination of caramel ice cream and latte sounded deliciously sweet. But in the end, I decided to stick with the vanilla latte.

"Um, one iced vanilla latte, please."

"What size?"

"...Small, please."

I rarely bought coffee, so even saying the sizes like Tall or Grande felt a little unfamiliar. I took the coffee coupon out of my bag. "Can I use this?"

"Yes."

The part-timer accepted the coupon without any reaction. She must've been used to dorm coupons—other residents had probably used them before. "Will you be drinking here?"

"...Yes."

"Would you like a stamp card?"

"No, I'm good."

"Here's your buzzer."

"Thanks."

Every time you ordered a drink at the campus café, they gave you a stamp card. It was different from the instant-use coupons the dorm distributed. This one was made of thick paper with about twenty boxes to stamp. Twenty stamps got you a free Americano, I think. But I turned it down. I hardly ever came here anyway, so the card was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pointless to me.

Buzzer in hand, I looked around for a seat. I found a decent spot in the corner. "Might as well sit and rest for a bit." I'd originally planned to take the coffee back to the dorm, but the café was quieter than expected and the atmosphere wasn't bad, so I'd told the part-timer I'd drink here. "I should read a book while I'm at it." The quiet vibe made it perfect for flipping through one of the novels I'd just borrowed while sipping coffee. I wondered what made it so popular. The novel had me curious on multiple levels.

I opened the first volume of The Woodcutter Who Hid the Celestial Maiden's Robe. The story started with an interesting hook. But my excitement cooled quickly. While I was absorbed in the pages, I turned one and froze.

"Damn... What the hell?" A small bug was squashed dead on the next page. Someone must've killed it while the book was open. "Seriously, if you're borrowing a book, can't you at least be careful?" If anything, people should treat borrowed books more gently since they weren't theirs. I flipped through the pages to check the condition. A slightly torn page. A page with something dirty on it. A page with scribbles. "Ugh..." I'd been so happy to find these at the library and borrowed a ton, but the condition was awful.

—Vrrr.

The buzzer went off. I left my bag at the table and went to get my coffee. While carrying it back, I glanced at the front of the café. The floor-to-ceiling glass perfectly framed the campus scenery and passing students like a painting. "Nice view." The iced vanilla latte in the glass cup was sweet and fragrant, just how I liked it. Whenever I did go to a café, I always ordered vanilla latte. After sitting down with it, I suddenly had time on my hands. I couldn't exactly take the glass back to the dorm, and after that bug incident I wasn't in the mood to read. "What now...?"

Then I remembered the random box I'd gotten after the parallel-world quest. I'd been so out of it afterward that I'd forgotten to open it. It had been sitting in my pocket for days. "I should open it now." I fished the random box out of my pocket. It was a cheap plastic box the size of an adult fist. By now I was used to prying open the seams with some force.

—Pop.

The spray bottle was about the size of my middle finger—looked like a breath spray at first glance. The container was opaque, so I couldn't see how much was inside. I'd have to shake it to guess. The fact that it slowly refilled if even a drop remained, but destroyed itself if used completely... felt oddly specific. "Itch spray, huh..." Still, it seemed like something I could use during sex. I slipped the bottle into my pocket. The tiny canister disappeared smoothly inside.

"Guess I'll just drink my coffee." I was starting to sip the cool, sweet vanilla latte when the café door opened again.

—Ding-a-ling.

A girl walked in. "Huh?" I recognized her immediately. Kang Dahyun, the girl from my Wednesday Introduction to Psychology class. Today she wore black high heels, a navy checkered tennis skirt, and black band stockings. Her top was a plain white cotton tee. The tennis skirt was shorter than I expected, and paired with the black stockings, her legs looked especially striking. I'd heard she worked as a fitting model. She really did have that model vibe—tall, toned, and eye-catching. Her voluminous, long-limbed figure probably helped a lot. I'd even secretly browsed the shopping-mall sites that featured her photos. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Every time I saw Kang Dahyun, I got the feeling she was born with sex appeal. From the mole near her eye to her lightly tanned skin and cat-like gaze, everything about her radiated that unique seductive aura.

"The skirt suits her..." She usually wore jeans, and they paired well with her model-like legs. Guys on campus always turned to stare at her from behind. But today's checkered tennis skirt gave off a different, more provocative vibe. Her straight legs, emphasized by the black band stockings, looked even more alluring. Black stockings, short tennis skirt, and the glimpse of tanned thigh between them...

—Click. Click. Click.

Every step in her high heels sounded strangely loud to my ears. "What would you like?" "One iced Americano, please." "Would you like a stamp card?" "I'm good." Her voice was casual, almost curt. After ordering, she sat at a table by the glass wall and pulled out her laptop. It was a great seat facing the campus view, but my attention was elsewhere.

"Is that... her panties showing?" She was sitting facing the glass with that short tennis skirt. If someone looked from the right angle... well, from the front, you might see her underwear. Of course, no sane person would stand outside a glass-walled café staring at a girl's legs, but... "When I leave later, maybe I'll sneak a quick glance..." I was already planning to steal a look. From my corner seat, I kept glancing at Kang Dahyun while imagining all sorts of things.

—Vrrr.

The buzzer rang. Kang Dahyun got up, retrieved her coffee, and returned to her seat. —Click. Click. Click. The sound of her heels on those beautiful legs was oddly captivating. She took a sip and started typing on her laptop, legs crossed, black stockings drawing my eyes. I kept sucking on my vanilla latte, already thinking about leaving so I could peek at her from outside. Then—

"Uhh...?" The words "Lower Body Rental Coupon" on the quest window were glowing. Usually when text glowed like that, touching it brought up more details. I placed my hand over it.

"Borrowing... their lower body?" The item sounded intriguing. I could borrow someone's lower body and do whatever I wanted with it for an hour. And when the time was up, every single sensation from that hour would hit them all at once. I was curious what that moment would feel like. I headed straight back to the counter.

"One iced vanilla latte, small size, please."

Ordering another coffee was effortless. "Would you like a stamp card?" "Yes!" I answered a little too loudly. The part-timer looked slightly surprised, but I didn't care. I snatched the coupon she handed over.

"Whoa..." The ordinary coffee coupon in my hand had changed into a paper coupon stamped with the words "Lower Body Rental Coupon." It looked like cheap paper—nothing special except the text. If I showed this to someone normally, they'd definitely think I was crazy. Holding it, all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind. "No expiration date... So I can use it anytime and borrow someone's lower body for an hour?"

The first thing that came to mind was the upcoming school festival. Several female idol groups were scheduled to perform. Especially the girl group 4S—the most popular one right now, and my favorite. Among them was Seol-hee, the CF queen, giant baby, model idol, 9:1 proportion idol, the 177cm tallest member. She even had insurance on her legs because of how beautiful they were. What if I used this item on Seol-hee? I swallowed hard. Other ideas flooded in too—freshmen doing cheerleading performances, students from the dance and flight-attendant departments. So many beautiful girls I could target with the Lower Body Rental Coupon. And yet—

—Tap. Tap.

The sound of Kang Dahyun typing on her laptop reached my ears. My eyes naturally drifted to her. She sat on the high stool, legs crossed, focused on her screen. "She really looks like a model..." The high heels and black stockings accentuated her long legs. With her cat-like eyes fixed on the laptop, she looked like she belonged in a photoshoot. That elegant posture, that aloof expression. Sometimes when I stole glances at her during psychology class, she seemed almost goddess-like. I remembered always staring at her back from my seat in the classroom. She had always felt so far away—just someone I could only sneak looks at. "Yeah... I should use it now. No point saving it. There'll be more quests later anyway."

The idol girls at the festival, the freshmen practicing cheerleading, the dance and flight-attendant students—plenty of candidates crossed my mind. But in the end, I decided to use the coupon on the tanned-skinned fitting model right in front of me.

—Step. Step.

I walked slowly toward Kang Dahyun, determined to borrow her beautiful lower body.