Lower Body Massage (1)
After finishing the day's work and coming home, the first thing I checked was, of course, claiming the "Fatigue Management Reward" I'd just earned.
Along with the message confirming I'd successfully kept Coco's fatigue below 20%, a reward called a Relax Sofa had appeared.
From the name alone I had no idea what the design would look like, so I went ahead and installed it in our completely bare first-floor living room.
Thud.
"Whoa…"
The moment I hit the claim button, a single-person sofa materialized right in front of me.
One look at the gently reclined angle and the attached footrest was enough to tell me this was furniture built for massage. The backrest could adjust from ninety degrees all the way down to flat, and the armrests folded sideways to make the surface level. Most of all, there was a round hole where the back of your head would rest if you lay face-up — clearly meant for you to put your face into when lying prone. I tried it out, flipping the Relax Sofa fully flat and lying face-down with my face in the hole, and that confirmed it beyond any doubt.
So the fatigue management reward is a massage sofa…
Maybe managing other stats would yield similar items?
The fact that every room in the house except the first floor and the bedroom with the bed was completely empty suddenly made sense. Probably the idea was to fill the place one massage tool at a time until the house was complete.
Given that Beor's appearance was an exact copy of my twenty-year-old self, I'd already figured I hadn't simply possessed some existing person in this world.
This feels less like a novel or manga and more like I've fallen into a game world.
Anyway, now that things had turned out this way, it was starting to seem more fun than I'd expected. For the first time since dropping into this world — when all I'd focused on was surviving and keeping my head down — I felt like I actually had a goal.
If managing fatigue got me this one massage sofa, I was curious what managing the other stats would bring.
I should definitely take care of the rest of Coco's stats today, too.
Muscle tension and stress, of course — and her lust as well, thoroughly.
For muscle tension, working the lower-body muscles I hadn't touched yet, plus the hard-to-reach spots like her chest, hips, and the area between her thighs, should be enough to drop it below 20%. Lust I'd handle the way I was thinking, and stress would probably fall naturally once the lust was taken care of.
I was mulling over what kind of atmosphere I should set with Coco to lead things naturally into sex when someone knocked on our door.
Knock, knock-knock.
"…"
Knock-knock, knock, knock.
"…"
Just knocking, over and over, without a word.
I'd never heard this particular knock before, but I could guess whose it was easily enough. There was only one guest scheduled to come to our house this evening, after all. She'd arrived a bit early — not the three hours we'd agreed on.
Creeeak.
"…Ah."
"You're early, Miss Coco."
"…"
She nodded.
"Perfect timing, actually. I was just thinking it'd be nice if you showed up soon. Come on in."
"…"
At my words, Coco flushed slightly and carefully stepped inside. The heavy breathing from earlier had settled with time; she was back to the calm version of herself from our first meeting.
Her lust was at 100%, but she didn't seem about to jump me on the spot. Honestly, once I'd invited her home I'd been half-prepared for that — but I preferred easing into sex after massaging her muscles first, so this was a relief.
"Why… did you call me…?"
"Ah, I didn't ask you over for anything weird, Miss Coco."
"This is… your house…? It feels… empty…"
"I only just moved in. I don't like bringing in things I don't need, so it probably looks a bit bare."
In reality, the spacious first-floor living room really did have nothing but a single one-person sofa — and even that was a massage sofa, not a normal one.
Chatting naturally as I led her inside, I first had Coco sit on the Relax Sofa.
"There's only… one sofa…"
"You're the guest, so you should sit."
"You… you're a man, so… men first…"
"It's fine, please sit. I brought this sofa in specifically for massages."
"Mas…sage…?"
The moment she heard the word massage, Coco's ears perked up with interest. Judging by that reaction, "massage equals something that feels good" was already firmly established in her head. Given how she'd responded to the two massages before, there was no way my hands hadn't been to her liking.
"Actually, ever since I first massaged you, something's been bothering me."
"…?!"
"As a martial artist, you use your lower body more than your upper body, right? But when I saw you request a shoulder massage, I couldn't help thinking a lower-body massage might be what you really needed."
"…Ah. That… kind of meaning…"
She looked embarrassed, thinking she'd misunderstood — but honestly, I'd worded it that way on purpose to make her jump to conclusions. Making her a little more conscious of me like this would help lead her into the slightly more intimate massage that would follow the lower-body work.
"Anyway, a lower-body massage is a bit awkward to do in front of other people, right? That's why I specifically invited you to my place. Here, I can work on your legs without worrying about anyone watching. Make sense?"
"…"
She nodded vigorously.
"Just checking — I didn't overstep or anything, did I?"
"…!!"
She shook her head hard from side to side. The way she hurriedly denied it told me Coco wasn't opposed to the lower-body massage offer.
Truthfully, my real goal was less about loosening her lower-body muscles and more about… satisfying my personal desires.
Well, whatever. Her lust was at 100%, and according to Senior Ellin, every woman harbored a wish to be held by a man at least once.
With that in mind, I was about to seat her in the massage chair when she suddenly pulled a pouch from her pocket and held it out to me.
Clink.
"…?"
"H-here…. Th-this is all I have… for now…"
"Pardon?"
"If it's not enough… tell me…. I'll pay the rest later…"
"…"
…She was doing it again.
Apparently, in Coco's mind, "receiving a massage" had become completely synonymous with "something you pay for." In this case, I'd been the one inviting her, so there was no need for her to pay at all. And looking at the gold-coin-stuffed pouch she was handing me, plus the offer to pay more later if it wasn't enough… my massages seemed wildly overvalued in her head.
Maybe her lust is so maxed out she can't think straight.
I couldn't just take everything she offered under the excuse of free money, not with someone like that. The reason I massaged in the first place was really simple. Roughly eighty percent of it was pure self-interest — wanting to freely touch the bodies of beautiful women I'd never even gotten close to in my past life, under the pretext of massage. The other twenty percent was wanting to watch their faces light up as they enjoyed it. In that sense, the money I received for massages had never been the point.
But if I refuse entirely, she'll probably get anxious.
From what I'd seen of Coco so far, she might leap to the conclusion that refusing payment meant refusing the act itself — so I needed to accept something, at least for form's sake.
One gold coin. I took the unit of massage fee that had somehow become established between us, then handed the rest of the pouch back.
"As I've told you before, this is plenty."
She shook her head.
"…It's not enough."
"I'm sorry, but the price of a service is set by the seller, Miss Coco. If I say one gold coin is enough, then one gold coin is all you need to pay. Any more than that and it just makes me uncomfortable."
"…"
She nodded.
"…Okay."
Coco was just shy and not great with words — when I explained things carefully, she understood just fine.
Once I confirmed she'd obediently settled back against the Relax Sofa, I laid the backrest fully flat for the lower-body massage, turning it into something like a bed.
"If anything hurts, tickles, or feels uncomfortable during the massage, please tell me anytime."
She nodded.
"Ah, and since this is a lower-body massage, my hands might brush against… sensitive places. Your hips, for example."
"…!"
"I'll do my best to avoid that. If there's anywhere else my hands shouldn't go, please tell me now."
"…I-it's fine if they…"
"Pardon?"
"…I don't mind. Even if you touch my hips…"
"Are you sure?"
She nodded firmly.
"If it's your hands…. Anywhere on my body is fine…"
I hadn't expected her to go this far before the massage even started. If she'd refused contact with places like her hips, I'd planned to slowly tempt her some other way — but that hurdle had been cleared surprisingly easily.
"You're really okay with this?"
"…"
She nodded.
"You're truly fine with my hands touching anywhere on your body, Miss Coco? I won't ask again."
"…"
She nodded again.
Coco confirmed, clearly and firmly, that my hands could touch anywhere on her body.
With her permission secured, it was finally time to fully unleash the desire I'd been holding back.