I became the contractor of my favorite character. (3)
I became the contractor of my favorite character. (3)
'What the hell, no explanation at all?'
It uses the term "contract," but it's just a simple YES or NO choice with no conditions or anything.
Even I, who'd gotten all the way to just before the ending in Hero of the Academy, had never actually made a demon contract, so I couldn't help but be flustered.
"Don't you know anything about contracts?"
"Um... It says in the Grimoire that you make a contract to borrow power from a demon in exchange for your soul."
A-young picked up the Grimoire again, flipped through the pages, and showed me one.
It was written in some difficult, complicated way, but summing it up simply, it was just as she said: humans and demons could each make one demand of each other.
But in most cases, humans wanted power and authority, while demons always demanded the human's soul.
'A soul...? That's kinda creepy.'
According to the book, you could demand other things, but they always took the soul. Making a contract with A-young sounded great, but taking her soul? Nah... I wasn't even a demon to begin with.
"Hmm... So you want power from me?"
"Yes."
She clenched her fist, her face full of determination, like she was ready to lose her soul if that's what it took to gain power, and stared at me.
"And what do you want from me?"
There was a hint of hesitation in A-young's voice as she asked me.
Was she scared of having her soul taken?
Of course, even though I wasn't a demon, what would I even do with a soul?
And honestly, even if I were a demon, I doubt I'd want to take A-young's soul.
Truth be told, I'd roll up my sleeves and charge in for her sake just for a little reward.
The reward here being something naughty, of course.
"Don't worry. I won't ask for something ridiculous like your soul. Like I said, I'm human, remember?"
Phew...
At my words, A-young let out a relieved sigh.
Was she relieved I wasn't demanding her soul, or that I was human?
"But if you're not a demon, how did the contract ritual succeed...?"
"No clue on that either."
"...I see. So, what do you want?"
A-young pondered for a bit, then realized she wasn't getting anywhere and smoothed out her furrowed brow before asking me again.
"Nothing."
"Huh?"
"I said nothing."
I really didn't want anything.
Sure, the desire to use the contract as an excuse for some wild sex was creeping up, but that would make it all meaningless, wouldn't it?
What I wanted was a woman who loved me, not a sex doll.
"Hah, but then we can't make the contract."
A-young responded, flustered by my answer.
Only I knew how insanely cute she looked when she got flustered and started stuttering.
"Oh, right."
Come to think of it, the contract only goes through if I make one demand of her too.
'Hmm...'
All sorts of ideas popped into my head about what to ask for.
Most of them were sexual fantasies, but like I said earlier, I had zero intention of acting on them.
But still, a free wish that I had to use on something—no matter what, one wish granted.
Passing it off with something absurdly simple like "fetch me some water" would be a waste; anyone who could do that would have the mental fortitude of Buddha or Jesus.
"Kiss me."
I'd never had a single relationship in my life, not even back in elementary school.
Forget sex—I'd never even kissed anyone.
But for a guy in his prime, wasn't it totally natural to be curious about that saliva-swapping, tongues-tangling kiss I'd seen online?
I had no idea how I could help her through this contract, but it was way better than demanding her soul.
"...Okay."
She inhaled sharply at my request, hesitated for a moment, then seemed to reach the same conclusion as me. Her face flushed red as she slowly drew closer.
One step... two steps.
We were now close enough for our faces to touch.
A fresh cherry scent wafted over—must've been from her recent shower.
"...Pervert."
Catching my gaze, she shyly looked away and muttered in a tiny voice.
I wanted to brag about the insane self-control I was showing, but she was so lovable that the words shot right back down my throat.
"Cl-close your eyes, please."
She placed one hand on my chest and said it, so I obediently closed my eyes.
As I pondered how to apply the kissing techniques I'd learned from dramas, porn, and Hitomi...
Smack.
A soft sensation briefly touched my lips, then vanished.
"Th-that count?"
What the—did something just fly by? I was panicking when her voice made me open my eyes.
She'd backed away a bit, her face, ears, and neck all flushed bright red.
"...? What?"
"Th-the kiss!"
Unable to hold back her embarrassment any longer, she bowed her head and covered her face with both hands.
"A-young. Do you know the difference between a peck and a kiss?"
"Uh, y-yes... One's on the cheek, one's on the lips."
Haha...
I couldn't help but be thrown off by her different values from mine.
Looks like she had no idea about the sloppy, saliva-mixing, tongue-entwining kind I'd been hoping for.
What can I say? She wasn't wrong, but it felt kinda unfair.
"Th-that was my first kiss!"
My unfair feelings vanished in an instant at her embarrassed shout.
Sure, I was disappointed I couldn't ravage her mouth and tangle with her tongue.
First kiss.
Hearing that filled me with a conqueror's satisfaction from taking her first kiss.
'Yeah. Can't push it that far with someone on their first kiss.'
So what if it wasn't the kiss I'd imagined?
Getting to see her this pure and innocent was more than enough.
I decided to sit quietly and wait for her to calm down.
"Thanks. Now that you're okay, let's make the contract?"
After a while, once her flushed face returned to normal, she looked at me and said.
"Sure."
I was stroking my lips, reliving that sensation, when I selected [YES] from the notification window in my vision, just like she said.
......
"No change?"
"You should check your stat window first."
"Stat window? How do I do that?"
"...? Just think 'stat window,' and it'll appear in front of you."
A-young tilted her head like my question was weird, then answered.
Stat window, huh.
This wasn't even a game—no hotkeys or buttons—and yet how was I supposed to check a stat window?
Still, following her advice, I thought "stat window" in my head.
'Stat window.'
Name: Kim Si-woo
Race: Incubus
Contractor: Seo A-young
Strength:5 Agility:4 Stamina:6 Durability:2 Mana:1 Vitality:10
Points: 0 Vitality: 27,052
Skills: None
Abilities: Energy Absorption(Lv1) Incubus's Eye(Lv1) Sexual Technique(Lv1)
Special Ability: Incubus's Contract(S)
(NEW!) Spare points from Save File 1 have been converted to Vitality.
"Fuck?"
"Yes?"
"Oh, nothing."
Save File 1.
The one with a whole month and my 500 hours gone with the wind just recently.
I stared blankly at the stat window for a moment, then one thought hit me.
'Is this all a dream?'
I'd shoved it to the corner of my mind while spending time with A-young, but now it resurfaced, along with memories of our bird kiss.
I vaguely recalled hearing that everything in dreams is based on the brain's stored experiences.
But me, who'd never even held a girl's hand, let alone kissed—feeling such soft lips?
And that faint, tangy cherry scent from A-young.
Such hyper-realistic sensations and situation.
I pinched my thigh.
It hurt.
Pinched my cheek.
It hurt.
Punched my face lightly with my fist.
That really fucking hurt.
A-young gave me a weird look, but that wasn't the issue right now.
'Not a dream...?'
Then why?
Why did I end up in the Hero of the Academy world?
'New Game...'
I clicked that button, got hit with intense drowsiness, fell asleep, and woke up in A-young's room.
"Haa..."
I racked my brain trying to figure it out, but came up empty.
No way I could solve a supernatural mystery like this.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine."
A-young asked worriedly at my weird behavior.
"Any changes?"
"Yes! I finally got a special ability too!"
At my question, she beamed with a happy smile.
She always had such rich emotions.
I wondered why a girl like this ended up as the final boss.
"What ability?"
"Incubus's Contractor, and it's a whopping S-rank!"
She must've gotten something similar to me.
'Status window.'
I called up the status window again to read the ability descriptions, and once more, the Hero of the Academy-style window appeared in my vision.
...
After reading the ability descriptions in the stat window, I was floored.
'I really turned into an incubus...'
Summing up the abilities simply:
Energy Absorption was the ability to gain Vitality from the opposite sex, influenced by pleasure, excitement, satisfaction, and such factors.
With the Vitality gained this way, you could create new abilities, strengthen them, and raise stats.
Sexual Technique was exactly what it sounded like: an ability that gave positive effects during sex.
Incubus's Eye was a goddamn cheat skill.
It let you see the target's favorability.
It was only level 1 for now, but higher levels would reveal even more.
Finally, Incubus's Contract.
I could view contractor A-young's stat window, and by spending my Vitality, raise her stats and ability levels or create new ones.
Plus, Vitality gained from the contractor was doubled or something.
Thinking I'd checked everything, I pulled up A-young's stat window.
Name: Seo A-young
Race: Human
Contractor: Kim Si-woo
Strength:6 Agility:7 Stamina:6 Durability:4 Mana:3
Abilities: Swordsmanship(Lv2)
Special Ability: Incubus's Contractor(S)
'Heh...'
Her stat window looked pretty basic compared to mine, but her base stats were on average 2 higher than mine.
'Would I lose in a straight-up fight?'
Not that I'd ever want to fight A-young even a tiny bit, so it was a pointless thought.
I could also see her ability descriptions, so I checked them out.
Swordsmanship was straightforward: 20% increased damage when attacking with a sword.
Incubus's Contractor was pretty much the same as my special ability, Incubus's Contract.
"Why do you have so much Vitality...?"
She eyed me suspiciously and asked.
Vitality.
The stat you gained through sex with the opposite sex.
At her question, I couldn't help but panic.
This was the moment when I, a total virgin who'd just had his first kiss, was suspected of being a total player.