The Second Sub-Mod (Part 1)

I was barely rescued from the hyperventilating succubus.

To be specific, Reina—who had shrieked, "If you get in my way, I won't stand for it! Women can be charmed too!"—lunged at my mother.

She fired a spell that looked incredibly dangerous, but...

"Oh? Reflect," my mother said simply.

Crack!

"Hyaaaah?!"

Mother easily deflected it. I didn't know her exact rank, but they said she was a high-tier mage, and they weren't kidding. A succubus's charm couldn't even get near her.

The reflected spell hit Reina dead-on.

She collapsed onto the floor, squirming and twisting her body for a long time.

What kind of spell did she even cast?

With a flushed face, Reina let out shallow whimpers. I cautiously bound her again with the Absolute Unbreakable Rope.

"Son~ did you get your girlfriend's consent before tying her up?"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Son, you shouldn't tie up a girl who isn't even your girlfriend."

"...I mean, yes, but she's a robber before she's a girl!"

"A robber?" Mother scratched her head. "Where in the world is there a robber without any weapons?"

"She tore through the barrier with her bare hands! Does she need more weapons than that?"

"Well, she is the daughter of the Succubus Queen, so it's not entirely impossible."

"Wait, you already knew? How did you... No, the important thing is that she broke in to kill your son!"

But Mother still tilted her head.

"Why?"

Ah—right. I hadn't given her any context, so she couldn't fathom Reina's motive.

"Why would such a cute and adorable young lady come all this way to kill my son?"

Um... how was I supposed to explain this?

There was no way in hell I could say, 'Well, Mom, your son somehow became the administrator of a trash-tier internet forum for degenerates. I tried to use two accounts to browse comfortably, got targeted by a stalker, tried to shake her off, and this happened.'

Even if I had to tell the truth, my mother's curiosity rivaled that of a five-year-old. If I introduced her to the gallery...

She'd probably log on, think, 'Oh, Sing-ma-gall? This looks fun,' and then click on a post titled 'Only Grandma Lovers Enter here lol' before looking at me with absolute disgust.

Absolutely not.

Exposing your forum life to a close friend is enough to ruin your social life. Getting caught by your own parent? Unthinkable.

"I'm not really sure either..."

"Then let's just ask the young lady."

Mother placed her index finger on Reina's forehead.

Zap!

She woke her up with a light electric shock.

"Ngh... h-huh? Are you... his mother, by any chance?"

"My, dear. Are you alright now?"

"Yes... Ah, could you please untie me?"

"That's a bit difficult. This is an artifact that can't be untied unless my son does it."

"No way. I'm not untying you. Go home."

"You're so mean..."

"The mean one is the person who pounced on me the moment I trusted her and untied her."

Since I couldn't untie her, I at least helped her sit up.

"So, can you tell me what the relationship between you two is?"

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"W-We love each other!"

"No—"

"Hmm~ is that so?"

"You believe a robber over your own son?"

"Where is there a robber who looks like this? Don't be shy, tell me the truth. She's your first girlfriend, isn't she?"

Suddenly, I had become a degenerate who enjoyed BDSM rope-play with his girlfriend and got caught by his mom.

The Operator... I didn't know when she had slipped away, but she wasn't even sending messages anymore.

I'm going crazy.

Left with no choice, I decided to confess the truth.

"Mom, actually, I—"

"I'm so sorry!!!" Reina suddenly raised her voice.

"?"

"Today is the first time we've met in person... so I think you must be very flustered. I'll explain everything step-by-step, so could you give us a little time to talk alone?"

"Oh, how cute. Sure, I'll step outside for a bit. You two have a nice chat."

About five seconds after Mother walked out...

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry!"

"Huh?"

Her personality completely flipped. It was as if a curse had been lifted.

Stepping out of the house, Celina walked far enough so their voices wouldn't carry.

She stared blankly at the starry night sky, then let out a deep sigh.

"Sigh... you're there, right?"

But there was no one around, and no answer came.

Celina pulled out a small wand and pointed it at the empty air.

"I don't want to use force. You're still watching, aren't you?"

"I knew it."

Celina—Juttak-mam's real name. She put her wand back and sat down on a tree stump.

"What's going on?"

"My son. And the youngest daughter of the Succubus Queen. If you arranged this bizarre meeting just to boost your performance metrics..."

Celina's eyes grew sharp enough to slice the full moon in the night sky.

The Operator's message updated hurriedly.

"Really?"

"My, you've been communicating directly with my son?"

Amused, Celina took a piece of candy from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. As the candy melted, a massive surge of mana welled up inside her.

"Then that stone wasn't your doing either?"

"Alright, I believe you. You were never one to lie."

Celina let out another deep sigh.

"Then I have a rough idea of what's going on."

"Someone cast a spell on that succubus girl, and on that annoying village brat. It took some effort to dispel it since it's been a while. But it's a familiar pattern, so it should be easy to track down."

"Yes. It's faint and hard to detect, but it's a petty spell that slowly nudges a person's emotions until they explode. It's probably from the Ared Empire. Sigh... I just got home after so long, but if it involves my son, I have no choice."

Celina smiled warmly at the message window.

"I'll have to pay them a quick visit later. Oh, right. Please take good care of my son whenever I'm away, okay?"

"Thank you, Eleanor."

"Hey."

"Y-Yes, yes?!"

"Why did your tone change so suddenly?"

"T-T-T-That is..."

Did she miss her medication? Or maybe she had too much chocolate caffeine?

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I'm not usually this reckless. But starting a few days ago, I suddenly became so impulsive..."

"Huh?"

So her bold, aggressive behavior earlier was her deep, suppressed desires exploding.

"So this is your real personality?"

"Y-Y-Yes!"

"Stop shouting. And since you could be acting, I'm not untying you."

"T-T-That's fine. I was in the wrong..."

Unlike earlier when she tried to cling to me, now she blushed furiously and tried to back away when I got close.

"Hmm."

Yurix's sudden outburst before, and now this. Something was highly suspicious.

I should investigate.

But first.

"Hey."

"Y-Yes?!"

"Don't freak out, and listen carefully."

He needed to get their stories straight.

"If people find out I'm the Head Mod, it'll be bad. So could you watch your mouth?"

Reina glanced at him, avoiding eye contact.

"I-If that... h-helps you..."

"Thanks!"

"I-I-In exchange, though..."

"Yeah?"

Reina held up three fingers.

"C-C-Could I come see you... about three times a week?"

"...Huh?"

"A-As expected, that's a no, right...?"

"I mean, it's not impossible, but why do you even want to see me?"

"B-Because I like you..."

"???"

This was a complete mystery. 'Pure Demon Die' was just a regular toxic poster on the forum.

Why does she like me?

I opened the gallery and checked her ID info.

"Ah."

It was a familiar nickname.

Whenever I got into comment wars with racists, elitist demon nobles, or trolls, this user would always run over to leave replies defending me. Even when I posted low-effort threads, she would always comment.

It was her.

"Hey, Reina."

"Y-Yes?!"

"Why were you always so nice to me?"

"I-If you ask me to say that with my own mouth..."

"Well, I won't know unless you tell me."

My mind calmed down. Sensing my change in mood, she slowly looked up and answered.

"As you can see, because of my body and my hair color, I didn't have many friends growing up. Then one day, I found out about the gallery..."

She used to browse the Cheerful Demon Realm Village Gallery from her room. There, she encountered various races with diverse desires.

"At first, it was fun. But as time went on, I started sensing dark, horrible emotions."

Succubi can sense emotions as scents. She was highly sensitive to emotional torrents, even through the gallery.

While some users laughed and played, others used the gallery as an emotional trash can, venting their daily rage.

"And there were trash who said things they would never dare utter out loud in public."

Yeah, there were plenty. Still are.

"They said succubi are a vulgar race, that our territory should be confiscated and we should be locked in brothels... I couldn't understand why I had to hear such things."

Her tone grew calmer as she got used to the situation.

"So I left my first comment on one of those posts, telling them to stop. But then a mob of people swarmed me, hurling endless abuse. That's when 'Pure Demon Die' appeared."

The toxic user 'Pure Demon Die' made his grand entrance.

I didn't remember the exact details, but I could picture it.

"Appearing like a comet, you defeated over ten racists—five Fixed Nicks and even more Guests—one by one. Sometimes with harsh insults, sometimes with perfect mockery, and sometimes with flawless logic. Once they were all driven away, you said this to me at the end."

What did I say?

"'There are lots of trash like that in the gallery, so you'll feel better if you just ignore them.'"

Yep, sounds exactly like me.

Reina looked at me, still a bit scared, and gave an awkward but bright smile.

"To me, that was salvation."

I knew I didn't step in to save her. I probably just hated seeing a mob gang up on one person. Because I had experienced that a lot in my village.

"Thank you, Head Mod."

"...Sure."

"So, about that..."

"What?"

"Me coming to visit..."

The touching moment crumbled before the cold wall of reality.

"Three times is a bit much."

"As expected... Then, h-how about twice—"

Just then, Celina's voice came from outside.

"Son, did you have a nice chat with your girlfriend~?"

"I told you she's not my girlfriend."

I untied Reina.

"Go home for now."

"T-Then, can I still come visit?"

"Once we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get closer."

It was a polite rejection, but Reina took it as agreement, her eyes widening like full moons.

"B-But... since we need trust, a contract..."

A scroll and quill appeared in the air. A succubus ability.

A contract binding their souls. That could be extremely dangerous. I had read plenty of horror stories on the gallery about guys who didn't read the fine print, got their life force drained, and ended up crippled or dead.

"No to that, too."

"Huh? Then how—"

"Instead, I'll give you something good."

I promised a bond tighter than a soul contract.

"H-H-Hyaah?!"

I told the hyperventilating Reina to open the gallery.

"Press 'Yes'. Then we can be in the gallery together every day."

"R-Really? No takebacks?"

"Yeah. But you can't make it obvious to the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠users. If you do, it's cancelled. And if you do your job well, you can visit once a week."

"Understood!"

"Now, go home."

"Y-Yes!"

Reina flew off into the air, just as she arrived.

"My~ did she leave already?"

"Yes."

What an exhausting day.

Mother repaired the damaged house with magic.

Meanwhile, I lay in my hammock and opened the gallery.

Messages from the sub-mod, Ancient Demon God, were piled up.

"Did something happen?"

"Well, I did need a new sub-mod anyway."

So, I prepared it.

"A high-performance new sub-mod!"

And so, Reina—the Fixed Nick 'Only Looking At You'—joined as the second sub-mod.