Awakening
A chilly dawn morning.
I had severely sprained my arm yesterday, and the aftereffects were still lingering.
“Shut up and get in there! You inferior species!”
Even though I’d mentioned I was injured in the gate yesterday, the response wasn’t one of warm consideration, but the attitude one takes toward a spare part that could be replaced at any time.
Ho-jok.
Strangers who crossed over from another world to settle on Earth. I headed into the gate without a word at the command of a Ho-jok, who possessed a lush brown tail and fluffy, non-human ears.
“Hoo….”
Inside the gate, several other humans in similar straits were already waiting.
“Ha… this is fucked up.”
“Baccarat is always a bust, damn it. We humans should at least help each other out.”
“Ah~ I want to have sex.”
Standing among them, I stared blankly at the sky and thought.
‘…How much longer do I have to live like this?’
For over five years, I’d been an F-class hunter who diligently cleared dungeons on the surface, but in reality, I was a wretch caught in an unfair contract with the Ho-jok, unable to do anything else.
Every day felt like walking on thin ice.
Seriously.
If I ever get the chance, I’ll take revenge like a dog....
Lock them up 365 days a year... phew....
I spent my time thinking about the posts I’d seen on the human-centric community, Humanism Gallery, or "Hugal" for short.
The main monsters here were goblins, the lowest of the low among F-class gates where getting even a single scratch was considered a disgrace for a decent hunter.
“Hmm~.”
The Ho-jok who had just berated me was sitting on a large rock, stretching out with a languid nasal sound.
Usually, they used debt-ridden hunters like me to farm magic stones and make a little extra cash.
But sometimes, like today, they would just stand us there without a word and make us do something without any explanation.
I clearly remembered the last time they made us sing in the gate. If I sang too quietly because monsters were coming, I’d get smacked; if I sang too loudly, monsters would swarm, and we’d have to survive a major crisis. My shoulder, which had been wounded while barely dodging a goblin’s blade back then, still felt sore.
…Damn it.
Anxiety rose that they might make me play the clown again today.
Even so, the Ho-jok’s signature voluptuous breasts and healthy, toned body made me admire them every time I saw them. I also wanted to touch those fluttering tails and the ears poking out from both sides of their heads.
I knew she was a D-class Ho-jok; the thought that if my own rank were just a little higher, I wouldn’t have to suffer such humiliation, kept swirling in my head.
“Inferior race. All of you, eyes down.”
At those words, the thirty or so people around me bowed their heads. If anyone had been even a second late to react… they probably would have been beaten like a punching bag, and while struggling, would have been stabbed to death by a stray goblin blade during the gate clear.
Still, for the first time in a while, I enjoyed the sight of that sexy body with my eyes.
Just as the back of my neck was starting to ache from keeping my head bowed, I heard footsteps from the side.
“Miho-nim!”
The Ho-jok who had been looking down on us hurriedly climbed down from the rock and showed a display of polite reverence.
‘Crazy.’
Normally, I would have just glanced for a second, a very brief second. The smooth jawline, the straight nose, and the mysterious pink eyes visible beneath long eyelashes. The Ho-jok with light pink hair was breathtakingly beautiful. Above all else… breasts so violent they couldn’t be compared to any other Ho-jok.
The moment our eyes met, I felt dizzy.
Quest: Great Strides - 1 The Beginning of Interspecies
📍 Objective: Have sex with the Ho-jok female, Miho.
🎁 Reward:Interspecies Awakening.
⏳ Time Limit: 24 hours
“What?”
The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
I had obtained a strange 5th special stat like "Vitality" that others said they couldn't get even if they wanted to, and I was a half-wit who couldn't even use my unique ability. But now, the clue to awakening the locked unique ability Interspecies, which hadn't appeared no matter what I did, was finally visible. Just because I had seen one pretty, firm Ho-jok woman.
While I was distracted by the status window, I came to my senses and realized we were making eye contact. A dry, emotionless feeling was embedded in the gaze looking at me so fiercely.
‘Shit… I’m screwed!’
Because of the sudden quest, I’d been dazed and stared for too long.
Difficulty near impossible confirmed. Skill granted.
Skill: Interspecies Pheromone (F)
Exudes pheromones that draw the favor of other species.
I had obtained the skill I’d longed for my whole life, but I didn't have time to properly rejoice. The woman called Miho was slowly walking toward me.
Should I be thankful? I could see her expression, influenced by the skill, soften slightly.
“Ah… Miho-nim. Today is the last day of training assigned to the S-class hunters. You can think of these humans as… a kind of teaching aid.”
“Is that so?”
Her footsteps stopped at a distance of less than a meter. I had been in the front row because I had the most seniority among these people, and thanks to that, I was standing right in front of her. The scent of fragrant peaches wafted over.
‘What is this? Perfume?’
It didn't have the beastly smell characteristic of the Ho-jok. But it wasn't the artificial smell of perfume, either. In the sweet scent that paralyzed my reason, I bowed my head further and stared endlessly at the ground. Even so, her massive breasts pierced into my field of vision, emphasizing their size.
“Hmm….”
Swoosh-.
Slender fingers entered my vision, and my chin was forcibly lifted. Naturally, I made eye contact with Miho. Behind the joy of facing that terrifyingly beautiful face at such close range, a fear that I might die right here leaked out.
‘Please… please…!’
I could almost see the cleavage of Miho, who was wearing fluttering clothes, but I desperately directed my gaze upward. My body stiffened naturally, and I swallowed dry saliva. Just as I was seriously contemplating whether I should touch those tits at least once before I died, I faintly saw the fingers of her other hand twitching outside my field of vision.
!!! Threat to life! Emergency skill granted!
1-time use skill: Word of Happiness
Makes the desired other species happy.
Without needing to hesitate, I immediately used Word of Happiness on Miho.
“Ah… with these kinds of humans?”
A voice mixed with laughter.
“Yes.”
“Haaa… really?”
The expression that had been looking down at me with indifference gradually changed into an interesting expression filled with delight. The other human hunters around us all bowed their heads, simply relieved that they hadn't been targeted, while the Ho-jok in front looked at Miho, who was showing interest in a human, with puzzlement.
“Hmm~.”
Poke.
Miho’s fingernails, which had been scratching her chin while making a fresh sound, headed toward my neck. As if playing with her nails, she repeatedly pressed and released, dangerously touching my lifeline. Her touch, which had been touching my neck with a dazed expression, eventually traveled up my chin and toward my lips, and then….
“Um… Miho-nim? Why is that human….”
“Ah? Oh… yeah.”
She soon turned her body and took her place on the large rock.
Did I survive this?
At first, when her fingers twitched, I thought I was going to die by the Ho-jok’s specialty, sorcery, and after that, I thought her fingers might pierce my neck. But whether Word of Happiness was truly effective, I had survived even though I had made eye contact and made strange sounds.
Miho, the S-class Ho-jok hunter, moved to complete the training prepared by her guild. What business did she have at a mere F-class gate?
She grumbled inwardly as she entered the gate.
“Miho-nim!”
The humans lined up in front of the guild’s D-class hunter who greeted her warmly looked to be about thirty. And the human she made eye contact with. What was it… it strangely caught her eye. Other Ho-jok cursed humans as inferior, lower species, but Miho had no interest in humans at all. She had thought that whether they were good or bad to her, they couldn't exert any influence whatsoever.
Therefore, she felt interest in the human who had drawn her attention in a situation she would normally have just ignored and passed by. When she lifted his chin, the sight of him raising his gaze to desperately survive felt cute.
‘…Should I… tease him a little?’
Miho, who had found something that piqued her interest for the first time in a long while, was contemplating what kind of sorcery to use on this human male when a dizzying pleasure spread through her head.
She had never done drugs, but she wondered if this was what it felt like.
“Haaa… really?”
Oops.
The emotion she hadn't managed to contain leaked out.
Just now… what did she say behind her back?
Feeling as if the pleasure circuit in her brain had broken, Miho held onto her sanity with all her might. And to regain her composure, she turned her attention away from the human male.