The Doll That Comes Every Night (1)
Is she not going to touch my chest today? Is she not going to touch my chest today? Is she not going to touch my chest today?
I listened to the voice inside my senior's mind and let out a sigh.
"Haa......"
That had clearly been a month ago.
A research office at the Korean Mage Tower. Alone in that quiet room, I sat swirling the liquid in a flask, and yawned.
"Hwaaam~"
At the sound of that yawn, a woman conducting research at another desk glanced over at me and spoke.
"Assistant Lee Jihun."
"Yes, Senior."
"Please concentrate when handling basilisk venom. It can be dangerous."
"I'm sorry. I'll be careful."
I bowed my head in apology at her words, then lifted it again to look at her.
Black hair that fell all the way to her waist, and blue jewel-like eyes said to be the mark of a mage. A face beautiful enough that you might have seen it on television — and, in stark contrast to that beauty, an expression so cold it was almost piercing.
Her name was Han Seolhwa. She was a high-ranking mage, the head of this Natural and Spatial Magic Phenomena Research School, and my teacher and senior.
Honestly, calling someone of her caliber — the head of a school, a high-ranking mage — "Senior" was a breach of etiquette, but with her permission, I addressed my teacher that way. Of course, this school only had the two of us to begin with, and there wasn't much of an age gap between us either. Senior was twenty-three, only two years older than me.
She was what people called a genius without equal. She had entered the university Mage Tower at eighteen, risen meteorically, reached the rank of high-ranking mage at twenty-three, and gone beyond even that to become the head of her own school.
I envied her. Not her talent — I envied how much money she made. How much government funding would you even get as the head of a school......
"Assistant Lee Jihun."
"Yes."
"Have you finished writing the research report I assigned you?"
"Yes, it's done."
I handed her the report I'd left on the table. She looked it over without a word, nodded, and went back to her own seat.
We were teacher and student, senior and junior, but we'd never really had a long conversation. Just a business relationship in which I assisted her magical research as her assistant. I was called an assistant, but even that was a stretch. I hadn't even undergone Awakening, and I couldn't sense mana. I was just an ordinary person.
Even so, assisting with the research had never been a real problem. Well...... there probably hadn't been. In all the time I'd worked here, Senior had never once pointed out a mistake.
"Assistant Lee Jihun."
"Yes, Senior."
"Is the anti-oblivion solution finished?"
"I just finished it."
The deep purple liquid inside the flask had only just turned green. This stuff, called anti-oblivion solution, was frequently used as a treatment for mental magics like oblivion and hallucination. I picked up the flask and set it on the table where Senior was working.
I was about to return to my seat when Seolhwa spoke to me.
"Assistant Lee Jihun."
"Yes."
"Are you perhaps tired?"
"......"
I couldn't say a word in response. How was I supposed to explain? Last night at ten, some lunatic had delivered a real doll to my front door. Because of that, I hadn't slept a wink. I'd thought it was a misdelivery, so I'd packed it back up and left it outside — and the lunatic who'd delivered the thing had kept ringing the doorbell and running off. Honestly, the whole situation had been a little scary, so I'd ended up losing sleep over it. Though it seemed like they'd given up around three in the morning.
I looked at Senior and opened my mouth.
"I had some circumstances last night and didn't sleep well."
"Is that so? Please get to bed on time. You're the only researcher this school has, after all."
Originally, this school had been fairly popular, with quite a few people in it. In the early days, about twenty assistants had flocked here. A famous genius mage who'd become a high-ranking mage at twenty-three opening a new school — of course people would gather. Of course, they'd all quit. The reason was simple: the work was too grueling.
Though I never really understood that part. Was the work Senior assigned really that hard?
"Assistant Lee Jihun, why don't you head home for the day."
"Is that all right?"
"Yes. I don't have anything for you to do today anyway."
"......Understood. I'll head out first, then."
I bowed to Seolhwa and left the lab.
That was the relationship between me and Senior Seolhwa. A purely business arrangement in which we never exchanged a single personal word — only talked about work. Even when we spoke, her gaze had never once been directed at me. Not that I had any complaints about that. She'd never nitpicked my work, and as long as I did my job well, she paid me well.
I walked down the hallway, my footsteps going thud, thud against the floor. Yeah. Since I was getting off early, I figured I'd take it easy today.
The moment I got home from work, I passed out. I'd literally pulled an all-nighter, so the second I hit the mattress I was out cold. When I woke up, the clock read 9:58 p.m.
Feeling the hunger in my stomach, I slowly sat up and headed for the fridge.
"Anything to eat?"
Rummaging through the fridge, I found leftover chicken from yesterday. I took it out, put it in the microwave, and stared blankly at it spinning inside.
That was when it happened.
Ding-dong—
"......?"
A sudden doorbell.
"Who at this hour—"
The moment I said that and turned toward the front door, yesterday's events flashed through my mind. I immediately checked the time.
Ten p.m. Yesterday, too, it had arrived at exactly ten o'clock. Swallowing hard, I stood in front of the door with a feeling of no way.
"Who is it?"
"......"
No voice answered. I checked the intercom, but no one was there. With a sinking feeling, I pulled out my smartphone. And sure enough.
......
The phone was dead. A smartphone that wouldn't turn on, showing nothing but a black screen. It had been the same yesterday. Even if I wanted to call the police, my phone was a brick, so how was I supposed to report it? The CCTV I'd installed outside was dead too, of course.
"Haa......"
I sighed and opened the front door. And sure enough, just as I'd expected, a rectangular cardboard box sat waiting on the threshold. I looked around briefly, confirmed there was no one in sight, and dragged the box inside, scraping it along the floor. It was heavier than I'd expected given what was inside, so I had no choice but to haul it that way.
I set it down on the living room floor, tore open the tape-sealed box, and checked the contents.
"......"
A hundred and fifty centimeters tall, with silver hair falling to her waist and brilliantly sparkling blue eyes. A girl lying in a relaxed pose with a faint smile on her lips, staring blankly ahead.
No — more precisely, a real doll. The skin was made of silicone rubber, so there was no mistaking it.
I looked at the real doll and thought. Once could be a mistake, but twice had to be intentional. On top of that, the strange phenomena that accompanied the doll's delivery. Thinking of how every electronic device went dead, I became certain of one fact.
A mage......
A being capable of causing phenomena like this. Only a mage could do it.
"......"
That said, I didn't feel any sense of crisis. It wasn't that I had no sense of danger — it just didn't make sense that a mage would threaten me with something this petty. I was simply curious who was pulling a prank like this. Had I done something at the Mage Tower to make someone hate me?
My gaze returned to the doll. A slip of paper had been placed on her stomach. Yesterday, the writing had said......
Please use her comfortably, then pack her back up by 3 a.m. and leave her outside the door. ^o^
Something along those lines. Of course, I'd figured it was some kind of prank, packed it right back up, and left it outside.
I pulled out the paper and checked the contents.
"......?"
The writing on the paper was different from yesterday. It was written in more detail this time, I guess? I slowly read what was on it.
1. Please be careful when using! Forcing the joints may cause damage.
2. Missionary, cowgirl, doggy, sitting, sideways, standing, fellatio, deepthroat — feel free to use her like an onahole in any position you like!
3. After ejaculating inside or outside, you may pack her right back up without needing to clean her.
4. There is no malicious intent whatsoever, so please use her as much as you like, without reservation!
What the fuck......
I put the paper back in the box and packed it up. I dragged the box back outside, dumped it in front of the door, then lay down on the bed and put in earplugs.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Ding-dong— Ding-dong— Ding-dong—
I ignored the sounds coming through the earplugs and closed my eyes. It wasn't like I had zero interest in women, but I sure as hell wasn't about to put my dick in a doll.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Ding-dong— Ding-dong— Ding-dong—
I'd only just woken up, so I wasn't sleepy — but I squeezed my eyes shut anyway, figuring I had to sleep one way or another.