The Summoned One’s Adaptation and the Priest (4)
The Summoned One’s Adaptation and the Priest (4)
#
A few hours before going to the Church, Yoo-jin sat in his room racking his brain.
To recruit Reni as a companion, he needed to use a skill and prove his abilities. He couldn’t simply say, ‘You, become my companion!’ without showing her anything. But how?
'Most of my skills were related to sex.'
He couldn't use a pleasure-granting sex skill. They had no relationship at all; he would be lucky if he was not arrested as a degenerate and thrown in jail.
That left the buff family, but whether it was a buff, a heal, or anything else, most of them required something lewd as a trigger. Still, it was hard to just blurt out, 'If you have sex with me, it'll benefit you! So let's have sex!'
Yoo-jin wasn’t some social butterfly who could talk his way into a one-night stand, and he still had an inferiority complex about his looks. Besides, the people of this world weren’t unusually casual about chastity.
'This was a real headache.'
At times like this, he almost wished for a hypnosis skill. But his Skills window had no hypnosis—not even the common affection-increase skill.
'Hypnosis... no. Even so, hypnosis is no good. That's no different from a doll.'
He hated the idea of playing with another person's heart. Not that he had any way to obtain hypnosis anyway.
As Yoo-jin kept scrolling through the Skills window, he found an unusual choice of words.
'Hold on. This? Sexual acts?'
[Skill: Holy Buff]
[Effect: A target who engages in sexual acts with the skill user receives a temporary increase to their stats.]
Sexual acts. The system used the expression 'sexual acts,' not 'sex.' Meaning it didn't necessarily require the old in-and-out.
'Come to think of it, there was already a clue.'
The settlement log that had appeared when he cleared the Heat State. It had awarded him no points, but that wasn't the important part. What mattered was the system's judgment—how broadly it defined a 'sexual act.'
If Yoo-jin was right, he wouldn’t have to become a lunatic who suddenly started shouting, ‘Sex! Sex!’
Yoo-jin took off his pants and began masturbating.
...
He stroked himself just enough to become slightly hard, then stopped. He could not ejaculate if he wanted to check the system's judgment.
Sure enough, the settlement window appeared soon afterward.
'It worked!'
[Beginning settlement.]
[Weak Pleasure: +5p]
[Masturbation cannot earn points: -5p]
[Total Points: 0p]
The system displayed a calm message, apparently done with the taunting tone it had used earlier.
Yoo-jin’s guess had been correct. 「Class: Sex Warrior」 said it awarded experience during ‘sexual acts.’ What he’d just done, however, was too slight to call a real sex act. There was only one conclusion.
'The judgment of what counts as a "sexual act" is broader than I thought.'
If so, 「Holy Buff」 probably did not require full sex either. It might activate through foreplay or even lighter physical contact.
'This makes things easier.'
He would be lucky not to get locked up if he said, 'Having sex with me will raise your stats.' People in this world had common sense too. But they would be less likely to refuse a buff granted in exchange for light physical contact.
At first, he would apply the buff through something light, such as holding hands or touching an ear. If he gradually escalated the contact, then eventually...
"Heh heh heh."
Lost in pleasant fantasies, Yoo-jin left the inn.
…
And that brought me to the present.
"I've awakened."
"Pardon?"
"Could you give me your hand for a moment?"
Yoo-jin activated 「Holy Buff」.
He had planned to use it to persuade Reni, but this woman was beautiful too, so it hardly mattered.
"Why my hand...?"
"My ability has an activation condition. You'll understand once you give it to me."
Kate looked at Yoo-jin suspiciously, then held out her hand.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Nothing happened.
Reni looked disappointed, while Kate looked suspicious. Damn. Cold sweat began to bead on his skin. Was holding hands not enough after all? In that case...
"What are you doing?!"
"Stay like this for a moment. You'll find out soon."
Yoo-jin guided Kate’s hand to his chest. It wasn’t molestation—it was reverse molestation. As her expression worsened by the second, Yoo-jin repeated a desperate prayer to himself.
'PleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkthisissexthisissexthisisforeplaybeforesexI'mfeelingitIcanfeelitKiyoooooot!!!'
"What in the...."
Kate's expression curdled at terrifying speed. She was looking at me like a subway groper! No! This was not molestation! I had not asked her to touch my cock; touching my chest should have been fine! No, this was molestation.
-Ding!
Ah, it worked.
Yoo-jin’s eyes might have been quaking, but his lower half was honest. The moment an ache gathered below, a message appeared.
[Holy Buff]
[Target: Kate Adenstein]
[Buff Grade: E]
[Details: Click to open ▶]
[Until Buff Ends: 07:59:15]
[Beginning settlement...]
Later! Yoo-jin waved the settlement window away. First, he had to avoid becoming a sexual harasser.
The instant he let go, Kate darted backward as though fleeing a cockroach. That stung a little...
"What on earth do you think you're doing?"
The look she gave him, as though he were garbage, made Yoo-jin freeze. Her face had flushed, perhaps from anger. Why was she looking at me like that? Was I really that ugly? Even her breathing had grown ragged.
"Reni, I'll hold this man down, so go fetch the guards..."
'Crap!'
The word ‘guards’ snapped Yoo-jin back to his senses. Being dragged away and questioned was a hard pass. He needed to keep his ability hidden.
"Wait! Wait a moment!"
"What?! If you don't explain yourself properly, I won't let this slide!"
"I can explain. Check your divine power."
"...What?"
"Just confirm it first. After that, call the guards or report me, do whatever you want."
Kate still looked disgusted, but she closed her eyes and concentrated as Yoo-jin had asked. Before doing so, she flicked her gaze toward the reception-room door, signaling Reni. I saw it. Yes, I was the trash here.
"...Th-this is!"
Kate's voice was full of shock. Now do you get it?
"Yes. I can amplify the abilities of the target I touch."
"Hah...!"
Beside him, Reni let out a strangled breath.
# # #
Kate was astonished. Amplification of divine power. It was faint, but an undeniable fact. Not just divine power, either. Her whole body felt invigorated. And there was a strange feeling down below...
'How could this be?'
Reni looked as though she might stop breathing. No wonder. The ability she had searched for so desperately was right before her eyes.
Looking at Reni, Kate struggled to calm herself.
"I-I see. That's a truly remarkable ability. Th-this phenomenon... does the amplification last continuously?"
At those words, the Summoned Person sank deep into his chair with a leisurely expression.
"There is a time limit for now, but..."
"But?"
"Who knows how it will develop? You may not know this, but once Summoned People awaken, their abilities develop rapidly."
The man smirked with confidence.
Kate tried to compose her expression.
While ability amplification was a great power, it wasn't unique in the world. High-ranking clergy, archmages, or rare artifacts could achieve the same. They just had time constraints. If the Summoned Person's ability was temporary, he would be no different from them. She had to confirm it first.
"Is that so. You mentioned a time limit; how long does this one last?"
"Well... about eight hours?"
"Eight hours...!"
Good heavens. She'd heard that when Archmage Namuras created a similar spell, the duration was only a mere three hours. A Summoned Person who hadn't even been awakened a full day could wield an ability lasting eight hours.
Moreover, the Summoned Person had implied that this wasn't the end. If Reni could receive permanent amplification from him...!
Reni clasped her hands together and was looking at Yoo-jin with earnest eyes. Kate thought about what had happened yesterday.
...
Kate's office, just after Reni returned from the castle.
"Did you find what you wanted."
"..."
Reni only kept her head bowed. There was no need to ask further.
"I see. Go back and rest."
Reni nodded her head and left the room. When she opened the door, trainee priests were chattering, greeting Reni.
The young trainee priests would pester Reni for stories about the castle. To those immature children, the hero-summoning ceremony and its aftermath would be little more than gossip. Reni, however, had gone to the castle grasping at even the faintest hope.
For reasons no one understood, Reni's divine power was exceptionally weak. The others had found their paths before reaching adulthood, yet Reni was already an adult and still hadn't advanced beyond trainee priest.
Reni was always smiling on the outside, but Kate knew that every time the other kids graduated, Reni secretly sobbed at night.
Even after taking 'that oath' requiring the maintenance of chastity, there was little change in Reni's divine power. It was something Reni had done in a fit of anger at a young age, but it was still too harsh.
Then news trickled out from the castle that there was to be a hero summoning ceremony this cycle. They were said to come from another world and possess special abilities.
Hoping Reni might find some clue among the Summoned People, Kate had used what little influence she possessed to place her at the castle, even if only as an errand girl.
It had yielded nothing. The heroes of this cycle possessed tremendous combat power, but none of their abilities could help Reni.
"Phew."
Kate sighed deeply. Come to think of it, she'd heard that one of the Summoned People was in a situation similar to Reni's: he had awakened no ability at all.
While the other Summoned People trained, he apparently spent his days standing in a corner like an unwanted piece of luggage. She had also heard that he was rather ugly.
That Summoned Person was now before her eyes.
'He looks passable... no, perfectly normal, actually?'
But any leisure to think about appearances soon disappeared.
"Ability amplification... why only now? Have you been concealing your awakening until now?"
If so, it was serious. But at those words, the man before her merely smiled.
"What good would hiding it do me? And the castle runs various tests as well."
Indeed, she'd heard the castle had all sorts of equipment for measuring ability. Just in case a Summoned Person lied. They were trying to control the Summoned People while calling them heroes.
But...
Kate turned her head slightly to look away from Reni.
"I understand that it's a splendid ability. But if you possess such an ability, shouldn't you return to the castle?"
"Ah...!"
Reni let out a regretful sigh, but it couldn't be helped. Matters involving heroes properly belonged under the castle's authority—at least for now. At Kate's question, the man's expression shifted into open mockery.
"If you were in my shoes, would you go back after being chased out like that?"
"For something so trivial..."
"'Merely a reason like that'?"
The Summoned Person bit the words out.
"The castle cast me out with barely a hundred silver coins for lacking an ability. A person who knew nothing! For lacking an ability! I never asked to be called to this place. Don't you think that's too irresponsible? I was discarded after being kidnapped! And you call that 'merely a reason like that'?"
"..."
The anger and humiliation of someone treated as worthless saturated Yoo-jin's words. Kate saw Reni in him and could say nothing.
"I'm sorry..."
Reni's voice was tearful. Poor girl. None of this was her fault.
"Ahem. Hmm."
Yoo-jin glanced back at Reni and relaxed his expression, embarrassed by his own outburst.
"Well, those aren't the only reasons I'm not returning to the castle."
"...Then what?"
Yoo-jin explained what he intended to do.
# # #
"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Yes. Thank you so much for coming."
"What's there to thank. It's all something I'm doing for my own good."
"Even so..."
"I'll be off then."
Yoo-jin chuckled, waved, and left the Church. Only after Kate and Reni disappeared from sight did he breathe a sigh of relief.
'Thankfully, my bluff worked.'
Yoo-jin wasn’t avoiding the castle for purely emotional reasons. It was easy to imagine how they would treat him once his ability was exposed.
'A buff shuttle. They'll probably squeeze me dry for the rest of my life. It's obvious they'll treat me like a stud.'
He had no objection to sex itself. He welcomed it. But what if his partners were elderly noblewomen, moldy archmages, or royals with bizarre fetishes? Horrifying. And besides...
'If the buff applies to male targets too... fuck!'
He could end up tied down and have his back door breached. No amount of lavish support would make that acceptable.
Yoo-jin shook his head and forced the horrific vision away. What he needed to do next mattered more.
Yoo-jin headed toward the general store to buy supplies.
# # #
"Hey, you're back."
In the end, Yoo-jin returned to the bald man’s inn. Equipment had cost a fair amount, and the other inns really were more expensive, just as he’d said. He needed to conserve money until he began exploring in earnest and claimed some treasures.
"Here you go. 20 copper."
"Received. Your room's as it was. Will you be eating?"
He had skipped breakfast and spent the entire day running around, so he was starving. All he had eaten was the tea and light refreshments Kate had served.
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll get it right away."
The bald man slapped Yoo-jin’s ass and moved on to another table. Why the hell did he hit me there? Then Yoo-jin went pale.
[Holy Buff]
[Target: Wilson Rowgen]
[Buff Grade: E]
[Details: Click to open ▶]
[Until Buff Ends: 07:59:57]
Oh, fuck! It really did buff men! Why the hell did it work?! D-did that damned bald man slap my ass with that kind of intention?!
"F-food's canceled!"
Goosebumps rose all over Yoo-jin’s body as he bolted upstairs.
"Yeah? Suit yourself... But why do I suddenly feel a surge of energy?"
'Oh dear fuck!!!!'
Yoo-jin bolted the door and lay down. He was still hungry, but he couldn’t bring himself to return to the dining room while that bald man was down there eyeing him.
'Damn... I was hungry... What a life...'
-Ding!
[Time until Heat State onset: 00:03:19]
"Please just stop tormenting me!!!!!!"