『???-Class Hunter — Jeon Somin』 Succubus (2)
It had been an ordinary day like any other.
She used her skill, Vitality Enhancement, to stir some life back into men whose potency had gone soft. Collected her payment promptly, left them to enjoy their happy time, then caught public transit home.
That had been her routine ever since the marathon session with Taejin.
Doing it that many times had definitely helped — her skill no longer piled up the same crushing waves of lust as before. The urge still built, of course, but she was managing it better this time, pacing herself, holding on reasonably well.
So had she stopped seeing Taejin altogether? For the moment, yes.
Truth was, Somin had wanted to call him. But Taejin had been genuinely busy — night curfew enforcement, plus his sessions with Hanna. So Somin had been left feeling a little lonely, filling the need on her own at home, when—
"Haaaawn... what time is it...?"
She climbed out of bed the way she always did, heading for the bathroom to wash her face.
"Hweh—?"
The reflection in the mirror left her no choice but to freeze in pure shock.
And for good reason.
A s-succubus...?
Staring back at her from the glass was a figure ripped straight out of a manga — a full-blown succubus. Horns. A tail tipped with a little heart. Even a pair of tiny devil wings.
No matter how she looked at it, the resemblance was absolute, and her mind reeled.
W-why do I look like this?!
It was easiest to think of it as going to bed human and waking up a different species. The sudden change left her completely rattled — and who could blame her? Up until yesterday she had been perfectly ordinary. Now she had somehow class-changed into a succubus.
N-no. Someone... someone must have done this as a prank...
In other words, it took her a very long time to accept that this absurdity was real.
Hours later, she lay sprawled on the bed, staring at nothing.
"I'm really a succubus...?"
The tail, the horns, the wings — every one of them was living flesh. Not just living, either.
"Hyaat♥!"
Each one felt like a hypersensitive erogenous zone. The realization only made her situation feel more wretched. Just when her life had finally started to open up, it had folded shut again. She pulled the blanket over her head and lay there, unable to do a single thing.
Wasn't becoming a succubus supposed to be a good thing?
Maybe — if gates had never existed. But the world she lived in had monsters. If anyone saw her like this, she would be killed on the spot. No — subjugated.
She had heard the stories. In the early days of the Gate Crisis, a handful of transformation-type Awakened who had turned monster-like had been hunted down. And now? She didn't socialize much with other Hunters, but word was that anyone caught got bagged and shipped off to "some laboratory."
Terror locked her inside the apartment. She didn't dare leave. Days of isolation only fed the fear, until finally—
"Hic... kk... huuuh..."
—she was curled up in her room, sobbing alone.
How many days passed like that? Her appearance grew more and more haggard, to the point where it seemed she might simply waste away and die. And then—
—Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
—She flinched hard.
Strange. No one ever rang this doorbell. The thought flashed through her mind that the Hunter Bureau had come to take her. Of course, that particular fear evaporated the instant she heard the voice on the other side.
"Somin! Are you home?!"
Taejin's voice.
After his encounter with the mysterious woman named Reika, Taejin had spent the next several days keeping a low profile. The knowledge that someone was watching him was simply too unnerving. He had already tasted how terrifying Awakened could be, so he stayed cautious for a while.
When nothing happened, he gradually relaxed and went back to his routine — until a different worry surfaced.
Why hasn't Somin contacted me?
Only a few days ago she had been messaging him constantly. Now she wasn't answering at all. Not even the "read" mark — the messages sat completely untouched. She wasn't looking at her phone, period.
Normally she replied within an hour. Something had to be wrong. So after getting off work, he made the trip to her place.
He knocked. There was definitely a presence inside. How did he know?
◈ Base stat upgrade cost: 200P
◈ Vitality / Strength / Agility / Charm / Virility upgrade cost: 300P
* Every 10 points, the cost of each stat increases by 100P.
Dumping every remaining point into stat upgrades had sharpened his senses well beyond a normal person's. Raising all his stats like that apparently upgraded sensory perception automatically — that was how the system worked.
And why hadn't he touched Mana? He had looked into it. The moment that number went up, residual mana would register, and he might get flagged for mandatory Awakened registration. So he was holding off for now.
Anyway, that wasn't the point. His newly sensitive senses were telling him there was someone inside the apartment.
Could be an intruder — but a break-in at a Hunter apartment complex? Ridiculous. Then why keep knocking? Because "ridiculous" was exactly the kind of thing that kept happening in this world.
So Taejin kept hammering on the door, certain the person inside had to be Somin. She still didn't answer. Didn't even react. He was starting to seriously consider calling the police and forcing the lock when—
—Footsteps.
The sound of someone approaching from inside. He stepped back from the door just as it cracked open — barely wide enough to see a face.
Somin's voice slipped through the gap.
"T-Taejin... th-thaaat is... I c-can't come out right n-now, so..."
An excuse before even a greeting. Something about it felt off, but Taejin kept his expression neutral.
"It's fine. You weren't answering, so I got worried something might have happened."
At that—
"Hic—!"
—she hiccuped in pure flustered panic. Taejin's certainty locked in.
Something is definitely wrong.
The instant the thought formed, he moved.
"Somin — sorry!"
He shoved the door wide open. And on the other side—
"Hieeeek...! D-don't look at meee!!"
—stood Somin, complete with horns, a tail, and wings.
More precisely—
A succubus?
She looked uncannily like the monster succubi from the manga he loved to read.
The sudden sight of her left Taejin briefly stunned, but he recovered fast.
"Let's go inside and talk."
"Y-yes..."
She shuffled into the apartment like a cow being led to slaughter. Whatever this was, it was no small matter. Taejin scanned her from head to toe, mind racing.
Doesn't look like cosplay.
If it were a costume, someone with Somin's personality would be dying of embarrassment. Instead she was acting like livestock on the way to the abattoir. Which meant this wasn't cosplay at all.
Sway♥ Sway♥
That's actually attached?
Every time her full, round hips swayed, the tail swayed with them. It seemed to emerge right from the base of her tailbone. Taejin was convinced — the thing was real.
Which left only one conclusion.
Monsterization?
Somin had turned into a monster. That explained the look of pure despair on her face as she let him in. She was imagining what would happen if anyone else saw her.
He had his own dilemma. A perfectly normal person a few days ago, suddenly a monster — what the hell was he supposed to do? He wasn't even sure "monster" was the right word.
Should I take her to a hospital?
He already knew that was a non-starter. One look at her and she'd end up as a lab specimen.
So he turned the problem over in his head. How could he help her?
Help her? Of course. Even if the app had been involved, she was still the woman he'd given his first time to. That didn't change. He would do everything he could.
He studied her carefully as they sat down across from each other.
"....."
"U-umm, so..."
Taejin kept examining her, trying to figure out how she had ended up like this. Under that heavy silence, Somin fidgeted and began, haltingly, to explain her situation.