#215 Tattoo Recycling

As the system messages appeared, a white line connected me and Siren.

[Ugh... sob... I don't want to die...]

"Huh?"

Suddenly, I could understand Siren's words. This is wild.

I approached Siren, squatting down in front of her and speaking.

"Hey."

[Sob sob... I want to live...]

"Hey, you little shit. Can't you hear me?"

[Sob... Yes?]

Just as I could understand Siren, she could now understand me too. I nodded and turned to Ice Queen and Gumiho.

"Anyway, Ice Queen. Looks like things are sorted here. Shouldn't you go save the heroes? I saw them flying off like kites with their strings cut earlier."

"Oh right!"

"Ah! Come to think of it, Wind Line fell into the sea!"

At my words, the two women remembered the heroes who'd flown away and Wind Line.

"Alright, Ice Queen, you go take care of the heroes, and Gumi—er, miss, you go save Wind Line."

I'd almost called her Gumiho but quickly switched to "miss." Why else would she hide her pretty face? She doesn't want her identity revealed. A psycho understands another psycho best, and a masked person gets another masked person. Damn... I'm such a considerate guy! How perfect can I get, Horny—

'...A perfect man except for the name!'

Yeah, everything about me is flawless except the name.

"You gonna be okay on your own?"

"Huh? Of course. You think I'd lose to a puny fuck like this? I never lose to anyone who's already lost to me."

"Heh. That's more like you. Alright, handle the cleanup. Oh, and we gotta talk later, so don't go anywhere! Got it?"

"Yeah. Hurry up and go."

"Okay."

"Wind Line!!!"

Splash—!

With that, Ice Queen dove off to rescue the heroes, and Gumiho plunged into the sea to save Wind Line.

But can they find her in this darkness? She might've already drowned.

'Eh, Gumiho'll handle it.'

With the surveillance gone, it was time for the main event.

"Hey, Siren."

[Yes...]

"You wanna live?"

[Yes... I want to live... sob... it hurts...]

"Aw, poor thing."

Seeing Siren cry so pitifully tugged at my heart. She'd fought tooth and nail to kill me at first, but now that she was mine, I felt genuinely sorry for her.

"Fucking heroes have no conscience. Turning a sweet girl like you into this mess... Must've hurt a lot, huh?"

[...Yes?]

Siren looked up at me with baffled eyes.

"Eyes down, bitch!"

[.....]

Siren lowered her gaze. Oh? She actually did it?

'Looks like she really obeys every command.'

Siren... what a fantastic weapon I've got.

"You wanna live, Siren?"

[Sob... yes...]

"That's what I thought."

I took a deep breath and bellowed at her.

"THEN SAY YOU WANNA LIVE!!!!!"

[I-I wanna live! I don't wanna die!]

"Good. Then scram."

[...For real?]

Siren's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yeah. You're mine now anyway. Oh, but if I call you, can you come?"

[Huh? Yes...]

"Even if you're far away and can't hear my voice?"

[You and I are connected now... So if you think about calling me and speak, I can hear it.]

"Oh? For real? If you're lying... you know what happens, right?"

[I-I'm not lying! It's true!]

I drew my thumb across my throat threateningly, and Siren flailed in panic. Well, the system confirmed the subjugation as an absolute rule, so it's legit.

"One more thing. You're pretty banged up, aren't you? What if you run into other monsters on the way back like this?"

[...You're right.]

"Hmm... what to do?"

Fucking heroes have no business ethics. Daring to leave my Siren in such a gruesome state! I'll tally this up with saving Valencia later and claim compensation. Definitely!

[Um...]

"Yeah? What?"

[My mother's heart...]

"Your mom's heart? Oh, Siren's Heart?"

[Yes... If you give it to me... I can recover right away...]

"You want that?"

[I-If you don't want to, it's fine! Just please spare my life!]

I scowled, and Siren shook her head frantically. Her big head whipping around sent a whiff of burnt smell with the wind.

I pulled Siren's Heart from my inventory and tossed it to her.

"Here."

[...?]

"What? Catch it. Don't you need it?"

[Y-You're really giving it to me?]

"Yeah. Take it."

To me, Siren's Heart was just pretty trash. What's the point of a heart that only sings when splashed with seawater? Better to use it to heal my new Siren than let it gather dust. Elis liked it a lot, but... I can give her something better later. What, though? Hmm... me, obviously?

'The best gift for Elis is me, duh!'

[... Sob! Sob!]

"Hey, why the waterworks all of a sudden? You hurt somewhere?"

[N-No... just... I'm so happy...]

"...Alright. Anyway, eat up and get going before Ice Queen and Gumiho come back. That'll be a headache."

[Okay.]

Siren opened her beak and gulped down Siren's Heart.

[Ah, aahhh...]

Then something amazing happened. Her lightning-charred black skin peeled away on its own, fresh flesh sprouting underneath. Her feathers regained their luster, growing even fuller. Her destroyed eye regenerated completely.

"Whoa..."

Siren's Heart wasn't pretty trash—it was a recovery elixir!

Once healed, Siren looked just like when she first appeared. No, even stronger. Eating her own heart hadn't just healed her wounds; it'd powered her up.

[.....]

Now fully recovered, Siren stood tall, looking down at me.

"...You looking down at me right now?"

[N-No!]

She panicked and flung herself flat on the ground. Nice! The system did good—no betrayal here.

"Anyway, off you go. Snap to it when I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠call."

[Yes! Thank you for sparing me, Master!]

"Oh my."

What a polite girl. Whose daughter is she?

[Oh! And Master!]

"Yeah?"

[This is my thanks for your mercy!]

"Thanks?"

The word "thanks" made my mouth water. Didn't Hungbu heal the swallow's leg, get the gourds, and become filthy rich? Is she gonna give me gourds too?! Gotta show mercy more often... Huh?

[Blergh!!!]

"....."

Contrary to my hopes, Siren started puking right in front of me.

Splat—!

What she vomited up was White Knight, covered head to toe in sticky goo.

[This guy's your subordinate, right? Here you go. Bye now. Thanks again for saving me!]

"....."

Siren bowed politely to me, spread her wings, and flew home.

That fucking bird... Should I kill her now?

*****

Tap tap—!

"Hey! You dead?"

"....."

"Breathing, so not dead. This fucker's got nine lives or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some shit."

I nudged White Knight's head with my foot to confirm he was alive. Must be that OP superpower keeping him intact even after being chewed up and swallowed by Siren.

"Just kill him?"

Ice Queen and Gumiho were off rescuing heroes, so I was the only able-bodied person on the beach. Kill White Knight, stuff the body in inventory—perfect crime.

Plus, I'd gotten this:

I'd thought the Special Reward was Siren herself. Nope. It was Tattoo Recycling. That's what the system meant.

So, what is Tattoo Recycling? Simple: a system to easily boost experience points.

Right now, my body is covered in tattoos from the superpowered folks I "sent to study abroad" in America—er, killed. Tattoos so dense my skin looks pitch black.

They can boost XP for the same type of power. But this world's full of powers with identical effects but different names. Worse, different names mean treated as different powers. Leveling up was a pain, leaving my body a tattooed mess.

But with Tattoo Recycling, no more grinding.

Easy example: I've got a level 7 Giant Scorpion King tattoo. Who'd I kill for that? Doesn't matter. Recycle it to boost Body Enhancer or whatever—nets a whopping... 0.7% XP!!!

Yep! Tattoo Recycling is garbage-tier efficiency! Only 10% of the tattoo's level as XP for your power.

Whoa! A whole 10%! So killing White Knight and getting Superman's Return would give 1% XP!

"Special reward my ass. Not killing him, fuck that."

Truth is, I never planned to. White Knight's core Hero Association muscle. His death would upset Dark City's balance. S-ranks already favor villains heavily. Even unallied, their turf's untouchable for the Association.

I want a playground, not chaos where random villains run wild. No intent to shatter the fragile balance myself.

"Ah, first tell the girls I'm fine..."

Via clone, I messaged Yuna, Jina, and Elis—fretting over me—that I'd safely repelled Siren. They sighed in relief—

"...Good."

—and naturally, a fuck sesh was on. Clones first, then make up for the missed foursome later. Siren interrupted, but priorities now.

"If there's a succubus among villains, there's Flame Witch among heroes."

Flame Witch flew that way, right? I headed toward where the dragon waterspout had flung her.

"....."

Then I stopped before a man and his son-like boy collapsed in the street. The boy, exhausted from crying or shocked by Siren, had passed out leaning on his dad.

"...You saved me."

I stroked the unconscious boy's head. If he hadn't cried begging for his life against Siren, I might not have snapped out of it. He doesn't know, but he saved me.

"Heal points left... not much?"

Only 5 Heal Points remained. Not enough to fully heal the boy's dad.

"Miracle."

I activated the Healer superpower's skill, Miracle.

My measly 5 Heal Points—

—refilled instantly. But Miracle's not just HP recharge; that's one effect. Others? Not needed now.

I used the healing skill on the boy's dad, his pallid face regaining color.

"Thanks, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kid."

Click—!

I pulled a camera from inventory and snapped the boy's photo. This alone doesn't repay saving my life. I'll compensate with cash later.

"Now, where's my Flame Witch~?"

I set off to find Flame Witch.