EP.88 Level 9 - Ung, Complete Empathy (2)
I froze for a moment, unable to fully grasp the situation. What the hell was going on here?
When pleasure exceeds its limits, the person starts to fear what comes next. And if it goes beyond that point, something like a gem bursts out of their body, right?
"...And now it feels like her awakening's been canceled?"
Her breasts, which had been massively swollen to around an H-cup, had shrunk down to an A-cup. Her abdomen, which would've held up fine before, was now torn open badly.
Even after weakening her body with drugs, she still had the durability of a low-rank hunter. But now she'd become as fragile as a regular person and burst open.
"Gongju!"
"On it!"
The moment I roughly pieced it together, Gongju tried rewinding time to restore everything. But while her torn belly reverted, it wouldn't go back to before that gem appeared.
...Since traits weren't working either, this was definitely tied to awakening rules.
"Something like this existed?"
In the end, Gongju forcibly extracted the egg, then used a precise rewind excluding it. We barely managed to stabilize Kangaji so she wouldn't die.
If Gongju hadn't been here, she would've been done for.
"You're thinking right. Normally, she was fated to die by your hand, yeobo."
"...It wasn't on purpose."
I'd thought it wouldn't matter much if she died, but I hadn't done this intending to kill her. Hell, I hadn't even known awakening could be canceled like this.
I'd planned to keep using her as an S-rank hunter indefinitely.
"What the hell was that gem, anyway?"
"No idea. First time I've seen one like it."
It reacted when I touched it and got absorbed into me... And right at that timing, the wall I'd been stuck on crumbled, and I leveled up. It felt similar to when Hyemi gave me her broken horn.
"Touching that gem-thing raised my level. It must've forcibly broken through the wall."
"An item that breaks walls..."
"Kinda underwhelming for something made by consuming a level 10+ hunter, though."
Still, there was plenty of potential for future use. We could strip awakening without surgery now. For irredeemable trash, we'd have a way to recycle parts of them.
"Just in case, let's check the new trait."
Ung, Complete Empathy (F)
Partially reads the target's thoughts, and if the caster empathizes, strengthens those thoughts.
"Mind-reading, huh? And if I make them think what I want, it amplifies that too."
Not perfect, but it lets me steer their thoughts my way while peeking inside. Pretty damn good.
But seriously, is this intentional? No combat traits at all. Hmm...
"I dropped the traits in shock earlier... Time to test. Hey, Strengthen."
"Hng..."
Kangaji struggled to open her eyes and looked at me. But there was no resentment or pain there—just intense confusion.
She silently examined me from every angle, then scanned the surroundings, her face saying she couldn't make sense of it all.
Had her brain gotten messed up for real?
"Ung, Complete Empathy."
She wouldn't respond no matter what I said. Unable to hold back, I used the new trait to read her thoughts. I could've used Do It For Me for a similar effect, but this doubled as testing.
My body's weird. I can feel sensations, but... no emotions follow.
The read-out was shocking. She felt sensations but no emotional response.
In my memories, this egg was so precious... Why do I feel nothing now? What happened...?
Something that'd normally terrify her, but she couldn't even reach the thought of fear. No emotions registered at all.
And this wasn't new to me. Myo Seola. Exactly like Seol-ah's condition.
Not certain, but Seol-ah's state might be connected too.
"Gongju, this probably worked for others besides me."
"Why?"
"It's identical to Seol-ah's symptoms. She said she's been like this since she was little."
So someone else knew how to extract these gems and tried it on young Seol-ah. That's why she lost her emotions.
Never even crossed my mind.
But... why does this guy irritate me, even a little? Nothing else annoys me.
"You annoyed at me?"
That's an emotion fragment. Come to think of it, Seol-ah feels things toward me too.
Made me wonder. Do I have some ability to restore emotions to those who lost their gems?
Not listed in my trait window, but like how arousal fluid has mystical effects, awakeners can have special powers.
Need to research this.
"This is gonna be a headache. Good thing we have you, Gongju—no S-rank gap. But melee-heavy dungeons will suck."
"Eh, it'll sort itself out quick."
"Yeah?"
She probably knows from the future. Didn't pry since she wasn't elaborating.
"Ah, let's try making her live nicely for now?"
I recalled the Study if You Don't Know setup I'd given Seol-ah. If it's the same, this should fix her too.
It predicts emotions/sensations from everything she sees and makes her feel them identically. Goal: make her want to please everyone happily.
Annoying...
As I activated it and showed disgust, similar feelings bubbled in her mind.
This time, I looked away and thought how lovable Gongju was—happiness close to joy sparked in her.
"Watch Gongju instead of me—Do It For Me."
We ran similar tests with Gongju, but the result shocked me.
......
No reaction. It worked fine with me involved, but nothing else synced.
"Didn't see this coming."
Is Seol-ah the same? Though lately, she's been showing more emotions normally.
Don't tell me it's all because of my emotions?
Might really be something about me. Need to verify more with Seol-ah later, but this was a bombshell.
"Ah, my head hurts..."
"I'll wrap up here, yeobo. You go rest."
"Nah. Still gotta deal with the ledger kids."
We had the ledger now, so later was fine, but I wanted it all done before crashing. And I had a plan for them.
"The system they used to torment kids is all intact, right?"
"Remodel it for use?"
"Tune it for adult women, as similar as possible."
Turn 'em all into slaves. Stagger it so they don't vanish at once.
Waste not to use a perfect system like this.
"Like last time, use common sense alteration."
With Am I the Only One Uncomfortable?, make them think they have to participate.
Kidnapping might get better reactions, but...
This is way easier.
They tidy their own lives and leave—no missing persons mess. Runaways get buried easiest.
"I've implanted suggestions in this batch... Should sync with their arrival for game start, right?"
"Kangaji prepped it solid, so yeah."
Now for priors—ask Seol-ah to rush it.
Why the hell are men on the client list anyway?
"What to do with this...?"
"Need to separate 'em?"
"True."
If they're gay enough to join this, they should've expected getting sold as such. No need to make exceptions.
"Now I can really rest."
"Got it. Handle the rest?"
"Yeah."
I sighed deeply and headed to the kids' room. Thank god none were hurt. Was scared to death.
"Kids. You okay?"
"Eunhyuk bro?"
"Taewoong!"
Aigoo, my cute little ones. Life here must've been terrifying—they swarmed me, bawling. Broke my heart.
Sorry I didn't come sooner. No excuse—even if unavoidable, you suffered, and I could've prioritized you over other stuff.
"Sorry... Bro was late. Sorry."
"Waaah...!"
"It's okay. All good now."
They cried out their grief for a while before calming. Finally led them out.
Oh, back exit too.
"Director."
"Kids..."
"Directooor!"
[Hope Orphanage]
Not perfect, but the orphanage was roughly restored. Girls inside rushed out, comforting the boys. All so kind.
"Eunhyuk bro, no Eunseo sis. Bathroom?"
"Ah, Eunseo decided to become a hunter."
"Hunter?"
"Yeah."
Explained the girls staying at the Women's Rights facility to train awakening. Their choice, but no goodbyes left everyone gloomy.
"We'll visit together later to cheer 'em on. They'll love it."
"Yeah!"
Food I'd pre-ordered via Director arrived. Kids ate happily, erasing bad memories.
"Truly, thank you so much."
"What're you saying? These kids are precious to me now too."
Her forcing cheer after all that? Grateful to the kids instead. All safe—blessing.
"Eunhyuk bro, eat with us!"
"Sure."
Taewoong, chicken sauce smeared on his face, dragged me. Protecting this daily life felt real—joy welled up, eyes stinging hot.