EP.63 Level 7 - Strengthen (5)
"Wow, you really came in fully prepared."
"Isn't that obvious?"
The owner was put to sleep, so that was fine for now, but Velvelsay's CCTV was streaming live to the internet in real time. There was no benefit to getting caught on camera, so I'd memorized every position to avoid them completely. The building was large enough that there were inevitably plenty of blind spots compared to the number of cameras. That was probably intentional—to keep the manager from showing up on CCTV as much as possible. The manager had to walk around with a camera filming, but she couldn't appear on the facility's own feeds.
Of course, thanks to the suggestions implanted in her, the men here didn't even register her as human. Outside of CCTV range, she was treated like an invisible ghost no matter what she did.
Still, making the victims stick only to CCTV areas via suggestion feels a bit off.
It was thorough in a way, but incredibly annoying and frustrating from the victim's perspective. As a fellow ability user in the same vein, it was disgustingly crude. The human brain was delicate; it needed a gentler touch. Just link it to a reward—make them happy whenever they went there. That would naturally condition them to head that way... Forcing it like a rigid command crossed the line.
"Anyone would think you were following a map. You memorized all that?"
"This much is nothing..."
Memorizing dungeon layouts and analyzing patterns made it easy to visualize a mental map. These days, they talked about deep learning and computers spotting patterns, but managers like us still made the final calls from the refined options. This level of skill was basic.
"......"
Just then, a woman passed in front of us. She was holding a camera, so she had to be a manager. Realizing we were in a CCTV blind spot, her eyes widened slightly.
"Turn off the camera, don't speak, don't contact anyone, and stand here on standby. Do It For Me."
"Ugh!?"
This woman looked familiar. Oh, right—one of the members from the last dungeon raid. She must have been the B-rank hunter.
Roughly B-rank mana levels, too.
A B-rank hunter wandering around here with a camera, filming gay porn. What a ridiculous situation. Though I recalled hearing that this paid better than dungeon runs.
"Do you recognize her?"
"That fucking bitch. She was the one filming us taking shits in the bathroom."
"Why film that?"
"I don't even want to know."
There must be demand for it. So many things beyond my common sense...
For now, I'd alter her common sense, erase the memory, and release her. Pondering the best suggestion to plant, one idea hit me.
"Men outside CCTV view aren't suspicious no matter what they do, and if they tell you to do something, you have to do it— that's just common sense, right? My head's ringing."
From now on, I'd lift all the suggestions on the victims. And I'd let them know that the collared managers were fair game as slaves. They needed to vent while I handled the boss.
"Outside CCTV range, pain and pleasure sensitivity are both heightened tenfold. Study if You Don't Know."
As planned, the tattoo took the form of a collar around her neck. Since we were outside CCTV view, it faintly glowed from the drawing.
Finally...
"Was there something just now? Too Scary~"
Sealing the recent memory meant she wouldn't suspect a thing, not even realizing she'd been hit with a trait.
She was pretty decent-looking for a hunter. Thinking about her getting revenge from the pissed-off victims later made me smirk.
"She's just an onahole now. Feel free to use her if you want."
"Nah. Not turned on by some creepy bitch like her..."
Fair enough... But he didn't seem opposed to doing nothing. He grabbed the manager as she tried to walk past us and slammed a hard kick into her stomach.
"Kek!?"
Hunter or not, a normal hit from a civilian wouldn't faze her much. But with heightened pain sensitivity and a shoe stomp, that had to hurt like hell. She writhed on the floor in agony but didn't find the situation odd at all—like she'd just bumped into a corner on the way by.
"Ow, even I felt that kick."
"Be careful. She looks fragile, but she's still a hunter."
"My foot hurts, but my chest feels lighter. Man, who knew a day like this would come."
The school stage was bigger than expected. I figured housing 100 people wouldn't require much space, but dividing areas into CCTV zones and blind spots, designing open layouts for believable footage, and including pools and gyms bloated the size.
"Why's she walking around like that?"
"Someone must have commanded her. That manager I hit with my trait earlier. She's naked except for the camera, and something mixed with semen and blood is dripping between her legs."
Traces of revenge from a victim I'd freed on the way here, probably.
"She really looks like an onahole now."
"Told you."
"Well, they never treated us like people anyway. Might not be so bad using her like a tool..."
Revenge didn't have to be sexual. A good punch like David—no, Ji-ho—did earlier could feel just as satisfying. I hoped the victims could relieve more stress.
"Grande's Si-woo and Min-jun, right? You guys okay?"
"Ugh, fuck off for a sec."
"You fuck off, you bastard. This sucks..."
"Want me to erase some memories if it's too much? I wiped the bedroom stuff for one guy who was too disgusted."
"Please."
"Me too."
Some victims wanted to keep all memories to fuel their rage. But gay sex memories were often too traumatic, so I'd seal the worst bits with Too Scary~ at their request.
"Thank you so much. Living like a puppet was soul-crushing..."
"Everyone says that. Guess you still had some will left?"
"Probably 'cause that bitch lacks skill. Felt like I was trapped watching my body move on its own. Fucking infuriating."
"Ugh..."
I'd used Do It For Me on most victims to ask about the culprit's connections. Scary how no one knew her. Pure madness was the scariest, huh? Eum Jiyoung seemed filled with nothing but raw insanity.
"This is the principal's office."
It would've been locked, but a passing manager handed over the key with a blank face at my request. The former rulers here were reduced to slaves. Nothing hit quite like flipping the power dynamic.
"Surprisingly normal-looking. Probably a hidden passage in the principal's office."
I rummaged through Eum Jiyoung's body as she snoozed face-down on the desk. A fancy remote popped out. Fiddling with it transformed the desk, revealing a swarm of monitors.
"CCTV, huh? Wait, what?"
Blind spots and covered areas were all being filmed. The managers thought only public zones streamed online, but everything—including them—was captured. Makes sense; no reason to limit CCTV like that otherwise.
"She's thorough."
If I hadn't put her to sleep, I couldn't have handled things this smoothly. I'd still win, but the victims wouldn't get peaceful downtime.
"Remaining manager and victims..."
One manager and two victims left. They were clustered in a bathroom, filming away. Right in the middle of a live session, great.
"My head's already starting to hurt."
Couldn't leave them, though. More worried about their mental recovery from this hell than my own disgust. I'd be wrecked.
"Sorry. Bad timing."
"No, we're grateful. Urk..."
Kang Min and Jeong Hyun gagged but thanked me. All the victims here seemed like good people. Half-expected demands for lost time compensation, but this was a relief.
"This fucking bitch is our slave now, right?"
"Yeah, onahole material. Or a punching bag—popular option."
"Both."
Some were too repulsed to even fuck their tormentors. Others figured her pretty face and body made her fine for a quick hole-and-toss. Revenge rape was classic, after all.
"All managers accounted for today."
Managers and victims done. Regular CCTV feeds went empty, sparking outrage on the Velvelsay site. Oblivious, Eum Jiyoung slept peacefully.
"Time to wake up."
Releasing the trait, she stirred quickly from the long nap. First thing she'd see: suspiciously new "doll" me. Sensing wrongness, she hit me with drowsiness trait.
But with Strengthen active, that crap bounced off. Seeing me fine, she startled and tried again.
"Stop using traits and focus on talking. Do It For Me."
"Who the hell are you? I remember it working yesterday...!"
"I faked it. Never actually affected."
Easy mind access bred arrogance. Fine when you're unique—but not against my similar powers.
"Why pick those victims? Know them? Revenge motive? Be honest. Do It For Me."
"...Found people matching the faces and voices for my characters."
"Anything else?"
"Nope."
As expected—this bitch just kidnapped whoever got her off. Zero regard for their happiness, no empathy beyond her worldview. Pure selfishness.
"Ugh, no wonder I can't get hard."
Staring at her stripped body: objectively a beauty, A-rank curves unmanaged yet perfect. But no lust stirred.
"What the hell? What're the managers doing? Why am I... naked...?"
"What else? Exactly what you did to your victims."
I drove my fist full-force into her gut.