A Bet I Was Bound to Lose
Alright then...
How was I supposed to make her react?
My senior was already lying on the sofa, fully committed to being a doll. No matter what I did to her, she clearly had no intention of responding.
But seriously, what am I supposed to do here?
All I had in my hand was the button. And even that wouldn't help me win — the doll's setting was that it trembled when it felt pain, so using it to force a reaction wouldn't count as a victory anyway.
It was frustrating as hell. I knew exactly what she was feeling inside, but I had to play along with the setting. I knew my senior was feeling every second of it, and I still had to pretend I didn't.
Guess there's no other way, is there?
That left me with one option. I'd just have to fuck the doll relentlessly, like she was nothing but an object.
Honestly, that much I was confident about. Ever since my awakening, my strength and stamina had been steadily growing. Physical evolution. And that included my sexual stamina. If I really put my mind to it, I was sure I could go all night without sleeping. I'd never actually tried, but it ought to be fine.
I walked toward the doll.
Hngh♡! Haah♡! Hnngh♡!
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.
From that point on, I fucked the doll like a man possessed. I don't think there was a single position we didn't try. Missionary, cowgirl, sitting, doggy — I enjoyed every last one of them, if I'm being honest.
Haaahn♡! Hngh♡! Aahh♡!
And through it all, my senior kept up the act. She didn't so much as twitch. She really had no intention of moving, not even a little.
Well — her legs and hands did give the occasional little shudder. But whenever I pointed it out, she just played dumb. The doll tilted its head at me, all innocent and cute.
I never did that?
"..."
When she came at me with that kind of shameless denial, I didn't have much of a comeback. So what, I had to make her arch her back before she'd admit it?
I drove my cock back into the doll's pussy like a maniac.
An hour passed.
Haah! Haah! Haaahn♡!
Three hours passed.
Nngh♡! Hnnh♡!
And by the time four hours had gone by—
"Hah! Hah!"
It was four in the morning. I hit my limit first.
"Hahh... I'm spent."
And my senior was still lying on the sofa, pretending to be a doll. Or rather — she wasn't pretending anymore so much as she'd been fucked completely out of her mind.
Hehehh♡... nngh! Haaahh... feels so good...
I'd managed to make her feel it, sure. But I couldn't make her react. Then again, she was wearing a doll mask that didn't change expression even once — how was a doll supposed to signal that it was feeling anything? If I couldn't hear her inner voice, she'd still look like a perfectly motionless toy.
From the start, this had been a bet I was bound to lose. Not that losing it felt bad.
Nngh♡! Hnnnhh...
The doll slowly, carefully pushed herself up from the sofa. She stood on trembling legs, then spread them slightly. Cum was dripping down between her thighs, but she paid it no mind. She raised a hand in front of me and flashed a confident V-sign, as if to say, Well? I win, don't I? Still determined to act like she hadn't felt a thing.
Haah♡! Haah♡! Haah♡!
Of course, the person inside was thoroughly pickled in pleasure. And I still had no way to call her on it. In the end, I had no choice but to concede.
"Fine. You win."
She nodded along at that, then flopped forward and melted into me as I sat on the sofa. Settling onto my lap, the doll looked at me for a moment — then kissed me on the cheek. It didn't feel like a proper smooch so much as just her lips pressing against my skin, but the gesture was so damn cute I couldn't even be mad.
Lately, thanks to the doll, I'd been going to bed later and later.
"Hahh... I've got work in the morning. I'm exhausted."
"...?"
The doll tilted its head at me. I'd said it on the off chance, knowing the person inside was my senior. And at my words, she started writing something.
You have to be diligent about work!
"..."
Looks like taking the day off was out of the question. Then again, it was only four in the morning. If I slept now, I'd be fine.
Feeling petty, I pinched the doll's nipple between my fingers and tugged.
Nngh♡!
Naturally, the doll didn't react at all. I kept her nipple pinched as I asked,
"So what's this favor you wanted?"
Even with her nipple being pulled, she acted like nothing was happening, picked up her notepad and pen, and started writing.
It's a secret!
"A secret, huh?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
I got even pettier and groped her chest hard.
Hnnngh♡! Nngh♡!
Honey-sweet moans spilled out of her on the inside, but the doll just sat there like nothing was happening. She really had doll acting down to an art.
"Hahh... fine. Tell me about the favor later. I've got to go to work in a few hours, so you should get ready to head back too."
She nodded adorably, then slipped off my lap and headed for the box. Once she was sitting inside it, she waved at me like she was saying see you later — and then she became a doll in earnest, lying down in the box.
I walked over, closed the lid, wrapped it up, and set the box down by the front door.
Whoosh.
I watched the box vanish, then yawned and headed back inside.
"Hahh... I should get some sleep before work."
Luckily, I still had time to spare.
It was eleven in the morning. I'd ended up late after all.
"Please be more careful next time, Assistant Lee Jihun."
"Yes. I apologize."
I arrived at the lab late, only to find my senior already there, looking perfectly fine and already deep into her research. She'd gone to sleep around the same time I had, and she still looked completely put together. Then again, she was an Awakened several times stronger than me — a few hours of sleep was probably plenty for her.
"Assistant Lee Jihun."
As she said it, Senior Seolhwa rummaged in her pocket and handed me something. It looked like an ID card with my name on it.
"It's your Awakened ID. Since you've awakened now, Assistant Lee Jihun."
I wasn't sure why Senior Seolhwa was the one giving it to me. I'd been planning to stop by the Association soon and get one issued myself, now that I'd awakened.
Hmm... ah.
Come to think of it, it wasn't that strange. Senior Seolhwa was an S-Rank Awakened, which meant she had a fair amount of pull with the Association. She'd probably just called them and put in a request.
"Thank you."
I bowed my head and took the ID from her.
"Now that you're an official mage, Assistant Lee Jihun, I assume you know you have nationally mandated duties to fulfill?"
Awakened were given official civic duties. Not every Awakened — just those in Awakened-related professions. Hunters who held the gates, Guardians who took down villains, mages who wielded mana to cast spells and conduct research.
Come to think of it... does that mean I'm officially a mage now?
I'd been working at the Magic Tower this whole time, but I hadn't been a mage. More like a regular civilian who handled a mage's odd jobs. The Tower was always short on people, so they hired civilians like me from time to time. You still had to pass exams on magic and mana, of course. But now that a civilian hire like me had awakened, it seemed that automatically made me an official mage.
It was a strange feeling. Me, a mage — when I couldn't even cast a single spell.
"You know the duties of a low-rank Awakened, I assume?"
"I was told it's a patrol assignment."
I'd heard about it from a coworker who'd started at the same time as me. It was simple enough — just walk a designated area assigned by the Association and keep an eye on things.
"The Association will text you the patrol location. So let's leave early today."
"Ah, yes. ...I'm sorry?"
Not "you can leave early" — "let's leave early"? I looked at Senior Seolhwa, confused, and she continued.
"I'll be serving as your patrol supervisor today, Assistant Lee Jihun."
Ah. So she'd mentioned it to the Association. I knew low-rank Awakened were paired with a higher-rank partner for patrols, but an S-Rank actually going out on patrol was unheard of.
"So let's leave early today."
"Ah... yes. Understood."
I just nodded.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd be spending a night with my senior when she wasn't a doll.
Wait. That wording was a little off, wasn't it?
Anyway. It was true. I'd never been out at night with Senior Seolhwa as herself, not as the doll. And because of that, I was a little excited, deep down.
It almost feels like a date.
How should I put it? Maybe it was the normalcy of it. I must have been craving something ordinary, because everything I'd done with Senior Seolhwa so far had been well outside the bounds of normal.
Either way, I left work at noon, slept like a rock to prepare for the night patrol, woke up at nine, and arrived at the Association's designated location by ten.
My senior was already waiting at the entrance.
"Senior. I'm here."
She'd been looking at something on her phone, and without even glancing up to confirm it was me, she turned toward the patrol area.
"Yes. Let's go."
She took the lead with that cool, composed stride of hers, and I followed. Then I drew up beside her, matching her pace, and looked around.
Tonight's patrol location was a commercial district called Black Road — what people commonly referred to as the underworld. An Awakened black market, the kind of place where illegal deals went down in the open. The reason it stayed in business despite all the blatantly illegal trade was threefold: the scale of it was enormous, not every transaction that happened here was actually illegal, and — most importantly — people in high places used it themselves on a regular basis.
Honestly, as an F-Rank, this was a steep assignment for me. They'd probably only designated a place this dangerous because my supervisor was the S-Rank, Senior Seolhwa. And really, what could possibly go wrong when I was patrolling with an S-Rank?
Ugh, oh no, what do I do?
...Huh?
The senior I'd been counting on suddenly seemed... nervous. Her face was as cold and composed as ever, but her inner thoughts were another story.
I never thought they'd assign us here. If he finds th-that place...
That place?
Along with that thought, Senior Seolhwa glanced over at me. Then she spoke.
"Assistant Lee Jihun. Stay right beside me. This is a dangerous place."
"Ah. Yes."
I nodded, a little uneasy. From what I could hear of her thoughts, it didn't seem like danger was what had her on edge.
How should I put this... was there somewhere around here she really didn't want me to find?