Gimme the Ancient Gear!
“Haha, good work. Miss Jua. Thanks to you, it was a damn good time.”
“Huup…♥ Y-yes, uh…♥”
Yoo Jua panted heavily, her breath thick with the heavy scent of night-blooming flowers as she tried to steady herself. Collapsed on the floor, she propped herself up on trembling arms, forcing her body to rise. Her stomach sloshed with thick, viscous fluid with every movement. It all felt so unreal. But amid the haze of confusion, one thing stood out in sharp, unrelenting clarity: the slick, lewd wetness between her legs. The aftershocks of that first-time intensity had soaked even the secret folds on her inner thighs.
Even through the humiliation and degradation, her body had reacted on its own. That fact twisted beyond shame into a bizarre sense of depravity that crashed over her. She'd only serviced him with her mouth, yet her panties were soaked through. Drenched, even. She dreaded the man before her finding out. Struggling to her feet, Yoo Jua couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes properly. At least the disheveled strands of hair hid her tear- and saliva-streaked cheeks.
“I… I’ll be going now.”
Her voice was hoarse, barely more than a squeezed-out rasp. Her throat still stung from how his cock had shoved past her tonsils, bending her esophagus. Worst of all was the semen that had refluxed up her throat and burst out her nose. No matter if she breathed through her mouth or nose, that intoxicating night-flower aroma lingered, dizzying her brain. And the sticky residue clung in her throat like something lodged there, refusing to go down properly. It was pure torment.
The time of humiliation and torment was over. Now she deserved her reward.
“Of course. Go on ahead. I’ll probably be asking for this kind of favor again now and then.”
“…Yes.”
She gave Han Jin-seong—who sounded just like Gu Du-ak might—a cold reply as she gathered her underwear and clothes, slipping back into them. Restored to her prim office-lady look from when she'd arrived, Yoo Jua gave a short bow and left the room, grabbing her handbag from in front of the door. Han Jin-seong had unlocked it again by pressing the button under his desk.
“Ah, fucking nice.”
Han Jin-seong slumped in his chair with a satisfied sigh. An unexpected windfall. Setting his spawn point to random had turned into quite the treat.
“Tch. What to do about that guy.”
He recalled Gu Du-ak, still passed out in the warehouse. Just offing the bastard and taking this position for himself didn't sound half bad.
The camera's already with Yoo Jua.
Sure, he could rush over and snatch it back if he wanted. But after she'd started things off with such a mood-lifting blowjob, he didn't feel like acting like a total sleaze about it.
And... even if she exposes the corruption with that footage, it probably won't end well for her.
Whatever. Not his problem. Han Jin-seong laid the unconscious Gu Du-ak naturally on the office sofa, then opened the window and leaped out.
Ancient tech gear... gotta be some place to get it, right?
Reverting from Gu Du-ak's form to his original appearance, he strolled the streets. True to its reputation as a city of mercenaries and hunters, the place teemed with all sorts of characters. A hulking brute with a reverse-edged sword grafted to his prosthetic arm here, a hooded figure with glowing red eyes like an assassin there.
Can't wait to get my hands on some ancient tech.
Han Jin-seong still couldn't shake the image of that elf from the video. Stylish suit, particle cannon, acceleration thruster with energy blade...! The epitome of manly fantasy gear.
Guess I'll poke my head into a shop or something.
His eyes landed on a promising store—the weapons and gear visible through the glass walls looked expensive as hell. He headed in.
Ding-a-ling—
“Welcome.”
The shopkeeper was surprisingly young. Han Jin-seong leaned on the counter and got straight to it.
“You got any ancient tech stuff here?”
“Huh? Ancient tech? You mean that knife-ear shit?”
The young man's face twisted in disgust. "Knife-ear" was the game's slur for elves.
“You nuts? Looking for elf gear in Eternia?”
Right, Eternia. Eternis's Eternia—what a lazy-ass name.
“Hey, it doesn't hurt to look.”
The young man snorted in disbelief at Han Jin-seong's casual shrug.
“Probably saw some vid of knife-ear bitches blasting around with shiny weapons. Give it up. That gear only works for them, so we melt down every piece we capture and reforge it.”
“...You melt it?”
He was appalled. Why the hell melt something that valuable...?
“If we don't, and they steal it back? Boom—it's a people-killing murder machine in their hands again. You gonna leave that lying around?”
Han Jin-seong dropped his head with a sigh at the young man's exasperated explanation.
“Yeah... fair point. Haa...”
He tried probing for the processing location out of lingering regret, but the shopkeeper's glare screamed he'd call the guards on the spot. Han Jin-seong's specs made the security force a non-issue, but he didn't want the hassle. Feigning disappointment, he eyed the cigarette pack on the counter. As his hand crept toward it slowly, the young man's palm slapped down on his wrist.
Skin contact.
“Freeze, you cigarette thief?”
“Ah, just curious what brand.”
Once outside, Han Jin-seong slipped into a dim alley and activated Mimicry, shifting into the young shopkeeper's form. The info he'd craved flooded his mind.
“Oh ho, so there's a processing plant.”
Eternia had a dedicated factory for melting down captured elf ancient weapons and artifacts, then reforging them.
Not far. Perfect. Time to clean 'em out!
He was a man of action when he set his mind to it.
Deep into the night under a full moon, Han Jin-seong vaulted silently across rooftops toward the processing plant, slipping through the shadows without a sound or skill to aid him.
Agility at 8 does this? Wonder what it'd be like over 10...
A tiny pang of regret for not reallocating more stats there, and he arrived at his destination.
Security looks tight...
Not that it mattered to him.
“Hm?”
He neutralized a patrolling armed guard with Sleep Scent—one of Lord of Pleasure's perks, granting mastery of all pleasure-based skills.
Whoa, fingerprint scanner?
The plant's security was robust, clearly designed with elf intrusions in mind. From the memories, only the fingerprint gate was tricky; the rest was standard.
No security cameras either.
Perfect testing ground for Mimicry.
Can't get in as this exterior guard.
External patrols weren't authorized for fingerprints. Info on authorized personnel surfaced in his mind.
Guess I'll scout around a bit.
Following the patrol route, he waited for shift change and returned to the outer waiting area.
“You're back? Nothing?”
“Like there would be.”
He bantered back with a grin, slipping into easy familiarity.
“What lunatic would come here for gear they can't even use?”
“Same old bullshit. What if knife-ears actually show? You taking responsibility?”
“Those bottom-feeder troublemakers ain't making it up here. Whatever, switch out already.”
Han Jin-seong playfully thwacked the man's neck, then pretended to sit and doze off.
“Sigh, fuck. Just gotta survive this shift. Then off to pound my side chick.”
“Side chick? You psycho?”
With eyes closed, he heard the man curse as he left. Once alone, Han Jin-seong switched Mimicry targets to the departing guard.
Some useful connections...
This guy was buddy-buddy with someone cleared for entry.
Drugs, huh.
Not "friends," exactly, but memories showed they weren't on bad terms.
Han Jin-seong headed straight for the smoking room where the guy might be.
“Hm?”
Spot on. In the corner, the authorized drug dealer puffed away on chain-smoke after chain-smoke. A legendary chimney who went through packs a day, glued to the spot once he lit up.
“This fucker... shift change's now. Why're you here?”
The man's eyes turned feral. Han Jin-seong instantly switched to a fawning grin, rubbing his hands.
“Heh heh... uh, just... stepped out for the john real quick...”
“Then go to the john. Why come here?”
“You know... heh heh.”
“Already burned through the last batch?”
Han Jin-seong hung his head like a whipped dog, and the man sighed deeply.
“What a worthless piece of trash... Hoo...”
Grumbling, he pulled a small transparent cube from his pocket. Han Jin-seong lit up and approached; the man reluctantly dropped it into his palm.
At that touch, Han Jin-seong brushed the man's hand and stepped back.
“Blessings on you. Heh heh.”
“Get your ass back to post before I throw you in jail for going AWOL. Deducting it from your pay.”
“Of course.”
Out of the smoking room, Han Jin-seong shifted into the dealer's form.
Using drugs as leverage but still demanding top dollar.
Ignoring useless info on the cube's use, he chucked it to the floor, pressed his hand to the entrance fingerprint scanner, and slipped inside quietly.
Beep. The door opened. Deeper in, someone hailed him familiarly.
“Yo, back from smoking already?”
“Yeah, kid.”
“Usually takes you 20 minutes. What's up?”
“You picking a fight?”
He scowled, and the guy backed off with a flinch.
“Nah, man. Such a temper.”
Han Jin-seong brushed past, passing more security gates until he reached the item storage. But there were barely any pieces left.
Fuck.
Memories confirmed: they'd melted a big batch days ago. But a few new arrivals since...
This one's...
Lifting one, Ancient Tech Artisan kicked in, info flooding his mind.
“...Huh, didn't you just go in?”
“What bullshit. You high?”
Mac, in charge of plant security, had his chain-smoking habit in the lounge—normally long, but extended today by that spaced-out junkie begging for a hit. Returning, he heard nonsense about "just went in."
“No... we were talking, and you got pissy about me mouthing off, then went inside... huh?”
Sensing something off, Mac clocked the guy on the back of the head.
“Sound the alarm, dipshit!”
Weeee-ooo-weeee-ooo—!!
The plant erupted in chaos as personnel mobilized. Mac led the group cautiously inward, spotting a downed man near the ancient gear storage—Ed, the guard posted there.
Mac nodded; a mercenary checked him.
“He's alive.”
“Ugh...”
Ed groaned back to consciousness right on cue. Mac knelt low and whispered.
“Intruder?”
“D-don't know... vision went black all sudden... ugh...!”
Ed curled in pain. Mac scowled, had him carted to the rear, and pressed on.
And at the end... they found another Ed, out cold in a dim corner.
The ancient gear in storage? Cleaned out. At least there weren't many—small mercy? Not for Mac. It happened on his watch.
“...So, you never came to the lounge to meet me?”
“Yes! I told you a dozen times!”
Mac clutched his head as the man yelled his innocence. Searching for the missing exterior patrol turned up the guy snoozing unscathed in nearby bushes.
Intruder ain't an elf.
An elf would've slit throats silently and dumped bodies. These guys were fine.
...Why?
Elf ancient gear only worked for elves—a proven fact after countless tries. Hence melting and reforging into usable weapons and armor that sold well.
“Hoo...”
Head already throbbing at the thought of the report, Mac dismissed everyone and pondered.
Impersonating others...
It wasn't impossible, but he shook his head. Doppelgangers were rare as hell, and anyway, they needed to kill and devour targets to mimic them—knowledge he'd picked up somewhere. So maybe...
A relic that lets you change forms?
Mac chased red herrings with all his might.