The First Guest
Sujin had come to my room. It was the first time I had ever let a woman inside. Hell, it was the first time anyone had set foot in my little studio at all. And the inaugural guest of this shabby room just happened to be a beauty like her. I didn't know what to do with myself.
What did it mean that a grown woman would walk into some grimy bachelor's apartment without a shred of fear? It certainly didn't mean she had feelings for me. More likely she was confident she could put down a man like me no matter what dirty tricks I tried.
I had, after all, only just Awakened. Or maybe Sujin was simply a kind person. Yeah. That was probably it.
She had brought a cake from a café that looked expensive even at a glance. It had to cost far more than one of my meals. To her, maybe it registered as a snack. I had never once shown up to a friend's birthday with a cake in my hands. She was a remarkably well-mannered young lady.
"Come to think of it, if you work at Sejin Logistics, you don't really need to live in a cheap villa like this, do you?"
Overly blunt, maybe, but I lived here too. I figured that gave me the right to say at least that much. She answered with a gentle smile — the kind of smile that could put a person back together.
"It's close to work."
She didn't bother denying that the villa was cheap. I had asked her where she used to live, and she'd told me her family home was in Gangnam District.
Well, that tracked. If both her parents were Dungeon Hunters, they would be earning far more than your average company president. The sheer stature of the profession hit me all over again. It was the only job in the world that could look at doctors and lawyers and call them whatever.
"This is my favorite cake. Please, try some."
"Ah, thank you. I prepared a little wine as well. It's cheap, I'm afraid."
I had dashed down to the supermarket in front of the building and grabbed it. I'd searched online for the best value bottle I could find. The reason I'd gone with red was simple: the Succubus's Gift was pink. If the colors didn't match, she would notice something was off immediately.
"You don't drink, by any chance?"
"No. I'm not a heavy drinker, but a glass or two is fine…"
Fortunately, she didn't refuse. I had grape juice standing by in case she turned the wine down, and I was glad it hadn't come to that. Her drinking — and getting moderately drunk — suited my plan far better.
I set out the fruit I'd bought as something to nibble with the wine. It sat rather nicely beside her pretty cake. The fact that we were drinking from ordinary water glasses instead of proper wine glasses took a little of the shine off, but unfortunately the supermarket in front of the building didn't sell stemware. Luckily, Sujin didn't seem the type to care.
"Congratulations, really. Not only did you Awaken, but Light Control? That ability is incredibly rare. If you wanted, you could probably become a Dungeon Hunter right away."
She smiled at me with genuine warmth, happy for me as if it were her own good fortune. Oh, Lord.
To think I get to fuck a woman this innocent and kind. Thank you. Truly.
I took a bite of the cake she had brought. A sponge cake dense with rich chocolate sauce. The lack of gaudy decoration was, if anything, a point in its favor. The sponge melted the instant it touched my tongue, and the sensation put me in an excellent mood. A taste this fantastical probably cost about as much as three of my meals put together.
"It's delicious. Sweet cake should go rather well with wine."
I made a show of drinking. Sujin's glass already had the Succubus's Gift in it. I would have liked her to drink sooner rather than later, but she seemed thoroughly absorbed in the cake and fruit.
No need to get impatient. I tossed her a question on purpose.
"How do you register as a Hunter? Do you just go to the Association and ask them to register you, and they handle the rest?"
"No. There are a few documents you'll need to bring. It's easier if you prepare them ahead of time. You can get them all at the district office — just tell the clerk you need the paperwork for Hunter registration and they'll take care of it."
The Hunter Association had branches all over the country. The closest one from here was the Seoul branch, which sat in Gangnam — and not just Gangnam, but the most expensive stretch of it. The Seoul branch doubled as the headquarters of the Korean Hunter Association.
"It's the fifty-story building you see the moment you step off at Gangnam Station. The first time you see it, the size of the thing just overwhelms you."
I had seen it once myself. I rarely went to Gangnam, but I'd made the trip to meet some friends. That magnificent skyscraper, planted on insanely expensive land right on top of a transit hub, had announced the Association's prestige without saying a word. Honestly, looking at that building had made me admire Hunters. Of course, I'd come back down to earth soon enough and written it off as a story from a world that had nothing to do with me. Then again, you never really know how a person's life is going to turn out.
"Are you interested in becoming a Dungeon Hunter, Jaeseong?"
She picked up her wine glass as she asked, the question tossed out lightly. I was far more occupied with the fact that she had taken hold of the glass than with the question itself. When I didn't answer right away, she asked again.
"Are you interested in becoming a Dungeon Hunter, Jaeseong?"
"Ah! Yes. I am interested. Though I'm not sure I'd be any good at it. Honestly, it's a little frightening, too. Dungeon Hunter — the mortality rate is considerable, isn't it?"
She nodded. The reason Dungeon Hunters made up only one percent of all Hunters wasn't simply that so few people had the talent. The mortality rate for Dungeon Hunters ran higher than any other profession in existence.
Statistically, a first-year Dungeon Hunter had a seventy percent survival rate. It sounded high until you flipped it around: three out of every ten rookies died. The odds improved with experience, but even then the death rate dwarfed every other line of work. Korea only looked this "good" because the standards for Dungeon Hunters were high and the system was well built. I had seen on television once that first-year Dungeon Hunters in America had a survival rate of fifty percent. One in two. Dead.
"Dungeon Hunter is certainly a dangerous profession. Money isn't everything in this world… If you feel it really doesn't suit you, you don't have to walk that path. Even if you're not a Dungeon Hunter, as long as you're a Hunter you can work in high-income fields. There's a pension, too."
Practical advice. I nodded. A faintly complicated look crossed Sujin's face, and then she drank.
I swallowed. Would the item even work? And if it did, how strong would it be? What if she noticed something was off?
The die was already cast — I was on the tiger's back now — but the worries kept crowding in anyway. I kept my face as still as I could and watched her for any change. Contrary to every expectation, Sujin showed none at all.
"Mm. This wine is good. Not too sweet, and it goes well with the chocolate cake. You have a good eye for wine."
"Haha. I just grabbed a cheap bottle at the supermarket. I'm happy you're being so kind about it."
Sujin launched into this and that about Hunters. Honestly, none of it went into my head. How could it? Every scrap of my attention was locked on her reaction.
"Hahh… hahh… it's a little hot in here, isn't it? Is it the wine? We have company dinners at work now and then, but we don't drink wine. I'm not used to it, so I feel a bit dizzy…"
"Ah… are you all right?"
I looked at her with all the concern I could muster, stuffing the joy trying to leak onto my face as far down as it would go. Sujin waved a hand and told me she was fine. It was obvious she was putting on a strong front. Being a Hunter, it seemed, did not automatically make you a strong drinker. Or was the flush from the aphrodisiac?
Fine or not, her breathing grew steadily more ragged. Anyone other than the man who had arranged this would have checked on her and sent her home. Her face had gone tomato-red, the unmistakable look of someone well and truly drunk. Disheveled like that, she was extraordinarily beautiful.
"I-I'm actually a pretty heavy drinker, I'll have you know…! I'm a Hunter…! Hehe!"
Right on schedule. I didn't even have to pour for her — she was gulping the wine down on her own. Having taken a full measure of the aphrodisiac, she seemed unable to get a handle on the heat. She brought the glass to her lips as if to quench a thirst, and every swallow only dragged her deeper into it.
"Hehh… hehh… s'hot… summer isn't even here yet…! M-my chest feels tight… ah… so tight…!"
The aphrodisiac's effect was tremendous. Her head lolled from side to side. I used the opening to mix more of it into her glass — a generous amount, enough to make sure the effect came on fully.
Her tongue as tangled as it could get, Sujin boldly threw off her top. The white shirt came away, and underneath was a black bra. A rather seductive color. A little disappointing that the design itself was so plain — more mature than lewd.
I decided this was my cue and casually lay down. Aside from that first sip of wine, I had filled up on water, but the act was that I was drunk. I watched her through slitted eyes.
"Hehh…! Hehh…! So hooooot~! Nngh…! Hot and itchy~! Hooo…!"
She threw off the tight jeans as well, just as boldly. Not something a virgin with any sense would ever do. Taking off her pants in a bachelor's studio apartment. It couldn't look like anything but a gesture of courtship — a request to be fucked.
When I saw the matching mature panties, I wanted, honestly, to bury my cock in that ass of hers. The thing was swollen taut, already at the breaking point. I didn't move. I had to play this out according to the plan — my perfect plan.
"Heeee~! That sweet smell…♪ That sweeet smell~!"
Sujin slipped a hand into her panties and started masturbating in earnest. The aphrodisiac was extraordinarily potent. Mixing it into the wine seemed to have produced a beautiful synergy. She was already past the point of making any rational judgment at all.
That said, her technique was clumsy. To my eyes — thoroughly educated in the subject by countless pornos and AVs — her movements looked distinctly awkward. From the looks of it, she was not the type who masturbated much on a regular basis.
Well. The soundproofing in this villa was terrible. When I jerked off, I did it with extreme care. There was no way a woman could easily let herself go in a building like this.
"Nnngh…! It's hot… so hot… hot and itchy…"
Her clumsy touching didn't cool the heat even a little. She cried out at the itch with a piteous look on her face. Like a palace guard who had just witnessed a princess's most intimate shame, my body went rigid. I wanted to yank those panties aside right then and shove myself in.
I learned for the first time today how painful it is to resist temptation. But I had to endure. Blessings come to those who wait.
Still touching herself in that piteous voice, Sujin turned her gaze toward me. I shut my eyes at once. I could feel her coming closer. Maybe because I had pumped my stats so high, every sense was running at full flood.
"That delicious smell~!"
Sujin yanked my pants down with considerable force, clean and decisive. The fact that she was a Hunter came rushing back to me.