Rest (4)
With dinner done and the cleanup finished, I fiddled with the new Body Checker on my wrist and asked Lilith.
"So, you said it's the new model—what's different about it?"
It looked exactly the same.
I'd swapped it out for this so-called upgraded version, but I didn't feel anything special, so I asked. Lilith replied,
"Unlike the old one, it has location-tracking magic and barrier magic added on top. The original had a lot of shortcomings, so you could say this improves on those."
"Oh..."
I had no clue what that meant.
"Well, seeing is believing, right?"
With that, Lilith snapped her fingers.
Snap.
A chill raced up my spine, followed immediately by a sharp crackle.
"Uh..."
A barrier—like a shimmering veil—spread around me with a zzzt, then visibly dented inward.
"The old Body Checker only deployed its barrier right before a dispenser got fucked to death and squeezed dry. This one activates in all kinds of situations. It blocks pretty much any attack on a dispenser's person to some degree. The barrier's twice as strong as before, too. With the location tracking baked in, it's several times better for dispenser protection overall. No mental defenses since those cost a fortune, but you don't have issues there anyway..."
Lilith took a swig of beer—gulp—and continued.
"As you saw, even my half-assed attack didn't break it. You won't get hurt from the barrier shattering unless it's something extreme. If your Body Checker had been like this from the start, that damn goat bitch wouldn't have snapped your leg."
"Ooh..."
Now I got it.
Basically, it was fucking amazing.
"The downside is it needs mana stones swapped out periodically since it's so powerful. But that's no big deal compared to the performance."
"Hold up. Mana stones?"
"Yeah, once a month. At least low-grade ones."
Low-grade mana stones...
In this world, they called mana-infused ore mana stones.
Those magic stones were used as reagents for spells, in magic tools, construction, industry—you name it.
Mana-laced minerals had endless uses.
Of course, they weren't cheap.
And she was saying I needed to burn through low-grade ones—not even the bottom-tier stuff—every month...?
A quick phone search showed low-grade mana stones went for well over a million won each.
"That's a huge fucking downside."
"Better than getting kidnapped by some psycho bitch or dying, right?"
True, but still.
A million won a month.
It wasn't crippling with my current income, but it sure as hell wasn't pocket change.
If I thought of it as life insurance, maybe it was a bargain.
"Don't sweat it too much. It's not public yet, but there's a bill coming that gives dispensers benefits for this stuff. They nickel-and-dime the budget every time, so it might not help much. This is from that stash they were hoarding anyway."
Lilith grumbled.
That explained how she'd scored this prototype Body Checker—she'd swiped it from somewhere.
"Uh... is that okay?"
"What's not okay? Better than letting it sit there over 'fairness' and 'budget' bullshit. The whole operation's this massive, and the budget's a joke? Half of it's welfare anyway, so costs pile up, but sitting on their asses whining about funds every incident? Your old Body Checker needs recalling too. Might as well..."
Lilith looked like she had a ton of pent-up gripes.
Was that part of why she was itching to retire?
Would I end up like that someday?
Not my problem right now, so I let it slide.
"Let this lady see it too, Hanjo."
"Ah, sure."
I held out my arm at Hoaran's request. She examined the Body Checker and said,
"Indeed, this is that one's handiwork."
"That one?"
"There's an eccentric who holes up making all sorts of gadgets."
"She crafts like a beast but never releases shit, just devours the budget. Occasionally makes something useful, but every time... If half her funding went to us..."
Lilith muttered bitterly.
That "damn bitch" again?
Come to think of it, she'd called someone that with Sati's restraints too—the ones that woman made.
Hoaran knew her, Lilith knew her, and "damn bitch" meant it was a woman.
This Body Checker was probably hers too.
One of the twenty-two heroes, maybe?
Narrowed it down to women, but there were too many to guess.
"Anyway, the magic's fine, but the shamanism aspects are lacking. This could've been done better... Well, she's new to shamanism, so applying it this well is impressive. Still lacking, though... Let me see..."
Hoaran tinkered with my Body Checker, mumbling.
"See? Adjusting it like this makes the barrier denser, no?"
I had no idea what changed.
"Yeah, that saves mana stones and works better."
Lilith spotted the difference.
Focusing my eyes on it—maybe ki flow or mana circuits—I saw streams, but without a before, I couldn't tell.
Savings, though?
"Uh... how much?"
"This way, swapping every two months should suffice."
Oh...
Efficiency doubled, apparently.
"Hoaran-mama's amazing..."
"Fufun, this lady is on that level."
Hoaran puffed out her chest proudly as I muttered.
Lilith scowled at her and said to me,
"Hey, I brought it—why praise only Hoaran?"
"Of course Mom Lilith's amazing too."
I didn't know who she'd yoinked it from, but scoring this was impressive.
Prototype, fairness issues—meant no other dispensers had it yet.
She looked ready to sulk over nothing, so I said that, and Lilith finally smirked, satisfied.
"Anyway, wear it right. Ignore my texts again, and I'll hunt you down."
She cleared her throat awkwardly but warned me anyway.
Ignoring her and getting busted mid-job? Terrifying.
"Hey, I might forget while working."
"Then don't forget."
Annoying, but she meant well for my safety.
I just hoped she wouldn't barge in during a session.
That'd be pure horror.
"Oh, right—can I grab dinner out tomorrow and come back after?"
The Eileya date popped into my head. Lilith and Hoaran stared.
"Dinner out? Alone?"
"If there's something you crave, tell this lady? I can make most anything."
"No, it's not that. Someone invited me to dinner."
Lilith looked shocked.
"You have friends?"
"Hey, I have... friends-ish..."
Her words stung, but yeah—no real friends.
Orphanage buddies at best, but out of touch forever.
Dead or alive? No clue.
My life.
Fucking brutal.
Couldn't be helped, but friendless? Tragic.
"Anyway, not a friend. Eileya wants to grab dinner."
"Eileya?"
Hoaran—who didn't know her—tilted her head.
Lilith—who did—scowled.
"Eileya... why the fuck's that bitch eating dinner with you?"
Beats me.
"Bitch is harsh, no? Just dinner."
"Bullshit. You think any woman asking a dispenser out privately is legit?"
That bad?
Overreacting to a meal, maybe.
Lilith sighed at my reaction.
"Listen up—know why dispensers use stage names?"
"Huh?"
Why bother?
Just use real names.
Mine—Kang Han-cock, courtesy of Lilith—fucking sucked.
Even Kang Hanjo bugged me; this was worse.
"'Cause delusional bitches pop up. You did it too, remember? Goes both ways."
I had, yeah. And the reverse...
"Wait, you mean..."
"It's not just dispensers catching feelings. Once personal shit mixes in, it gets messy. Bitches flipping out over other women, thinking it's love... Pre-stage names, no privacy laws—how many incidents you think?"
Yeah, I'd heard that.
Celebs and host club hosts used aliases for privacy and safety.
Dispensers matched the latter.
"So don't delude yourself. You're a dispenser—getting paid. Dispenser and client. Keep that distance. Or some crazy bitch stabs you."
"Got it."
No interest in random knives, so I nodded.
Lilith made sense—sorry to Eileya, but cancel the dinner.
Not that she'd go nuts, but it could open doors to awkward afters with no rejection excuse.
Risk a psycho per Lilith.
"Then give her something instead? Since I'm canceling."
"Huh? No need. She knows the score... Actually, yeah, better. For you, clean breaks beat vague guilt."
What about "for me"?
Anyway, Lilith pondered and said,
"Fuck it, give her one freebie and done."
"No."
What the hell.
"How about a sachet, Hanjo?"
Hoaran suggested one as apology for Eileya. Lilith frowned.
"A sachet? Who uses that old-fashioned crap anymore?"
"O-old-fashioned...?"
Hoaran looked shocked. I said,
"Not bad, though. Perfume instead."
"Perfume... yeah, works. But she's a werebeast—picky nose. Sure?"
"Have her pick it."
Lilith's face twisted.
"...What the fuck did you hear from all that?"
"No, ask her usual scent or fave, then buy it. Not shop together."
"...Thought you were spouting more dumb shit."
Harsh.
Like I'd shop with Eileya after that lecture.
Then a tug on my clothes—Hoaran looked up.
"H-Hanjo, you think this lady's old-fashioned too?"
Still reeling? I said,
"No, great idea. Ends up perfume anyway?"
"So this lady's sachet was old-fashioned?"
Ah.
Could be taken that way.
I froze; she pressed,
"This lady isn't old-fashioned. In my world, sachets as gifts were common."
"Didn't mean it like that..."
Was it a big deal?
But then...
"Suddenly curious—who's older, you two?"
They both froze.
Exchanged looks, then stood almost together.
"Oh, look at the time. Best prepare for bed."
"Yeah, too much to drink—suddenly sleepy."
They bolted.
"Uh..."
Left alone, I stared after them.
Total opposites in personality and tastes—Lilith and Hoaran.
Friends over shared age? Nah.
Couldn't be.
Right?
So... how old were they?