Succubus's Gift

Of course, it was far too early to be disappointed. I gave the inventory icon a light tap, and a list of entries unfolded from it. When I touched the one labeled Description, an information window for the item bloomed into view.

The description suited the name perfectly. My fist clenched of its own accord the instant I finished reading. In plain terms, it was a powerful aphrodisiac.

"An aphrodisiac?! Real ones only drop as rare byproducts from high-tier monsters. And they're treated as controlled pharmaceuticals — an ordinary guy like me couldn't get his hands on one if he tried!"

It was the kind of item every man dreams of at least once. It showed up constantly in the adult novels I wrote — a deus ex machina I'd drop in whenever I couldn't be bothered to set up a proper scenario.

Aphrodisiacs existed in the real world too, of course, but they were classified as special pharmaceuticals, right up there with narcotics. Once or twice a year, some Demonic who'd gotten their hands on one illegally would make the news for using it to commit a crime.

"Hah. B-Rank, my ass. This thing wouldn't be wasted as an S-Rank."

I felt a flicker of embarrassment at the version of myself from a few seconds ago, who'd judged the item's worth by its rank alone. Having landed something this incredible, I was thoroughly full of myself.

The bonus points and credits they handed out as a reward were painfully stingy. But I'd just obtained something extraordinary, so I wasn't about to let a petty detail like that sour my mood.

Even after all of that, the tutorial still wasn't over. The last window I'd opened — the quest window — was blinking at me. I checked it.

"Unix? So that's this ship's name? Come to think of it, that cube was called the Unix Cube too."

I studied the new quest that had appeared. The task itself wasn't difficult. I'd been about to explore the ship a moment ago — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Unix Cube reacting had just delayed me for a bit.

"Whew. So much insane stuff keeps happening without a break that my head's going numb. This isn't a dream, right?"

I still couldn't tell whether this was a dream or waking life. The hull of the ship felt vividly real under my palm, as if it were desperately trying to convince me this was reality — but honestly, if this whole world crumbled apart right now, I wouldn't find it strange in the slightest.

For all I knew, every bit of this was a delusion, and I was slumped over my laptop in some uncomfortable position, fast asleep.

"Let's not think about anything creepy. Focus on what's in front of me."

Grrrrrowl.

The instant I steeled myself to get moving, the freeloaders parasitizing my stomach started howling for a meal. I'd eaten a pathetic dinner, and a vicious hunger came crashing in.

I'd rarely been put in a genuinely awkward spot by hunger, but this was the real thing. There didn't seem to be a convenience store or a restaurant anywhere nearby. If something like that existed on a deserted, empty spaceship, that would be hilarious in its own right.

"I'm ridiculously hungry. Don't tell me this is a side effect of using that skill earlier?"

Was I feeling starved because the skill had burned stamina as its cost? That was when the practical worries finally started to sink in. I'd been giddy over obtaining an incredible ability and a powerful skill, but what good would any of that do if I ended up trapped on this vast ship? A tension I'd briefly forgotten began to creep back in.

"Quest or no quest, I need to figure out how to get out of here first… No — more precisely, how to get back to Earth?"

If there is a way there, there must be a way back. I'd read that line in some novel a long time ago.

It was a good sentence, so I'd filed it away. The funny part was that I'd completely forgotten what the novel itself was even about.

Vmmmmmmm!

As if answering my thoughts, a tremendous noise rolled through the ship. I flinched despite myself and looked around. It was as though the vessel were resonating with what I'd been thinking.

"What the hell? I've got a bad feeling about this…"

A brilliant light burst from the ceiling — the same kind that had struck me when I first arrived. Having been through it once already, I didn't panic quite as badly. That said, the retinal assault was still plenty annoying.

"Ugh!"

A strange weightlessness took hold of me. I cracked open the eyes I'd squeezed shut — and an astonishing sight surrounded me on every side. It was the vastness of space.

"Whoa… Looking at it like this, Earth really is beautiful."

I'd been too frantic on the way here to get a proper look, but now I could see it clearly. Just as someone once said — a pale, blue, beautiful dot.

Unfortunately, Unix's return service left something to be desired. I was dumped on the mid-slope of Mount Wolha, right where I'd been before the ship snatched me up. Being dropped off at my front door would have been nicer.

Maybe it was because I hadn't entered a more specific command. Either way, I couldn't give it high marks for failing to properly grasp the user's needs.

Still, I was grateful to have solid ground under my feet again. The impression left by my first spaceflight — if you could even call it that — was overwhelming. Far more astonishing things had happened than simply going to space and back.

"Good. I can return. But what do I do when I want to go back to the ship?"

I looked up at the sky as the thought formed — and no sooner had it crossed my mind than a bright light poured down from above, guiding me to Unix exactly as before.

"So I can come back here just by thinking about it."

Just how advanced did a civilization's science have to be to pull off a function this close to magic? From where I stood, this didn't look like the product of science at all. It looked like the work of a god. I could board Unix or disembark from it with nothing but a thought. Once I'd confirmed that, I came back down to the ground.

"I'm way too hungry right now. The quest can wait until tomorrow."

What I wanted was to go home and drink something warm. As the heat of excitement bled out of my body, the cold dawn air started to bite.

I checked the time on my phone. It had just gone past three in the morning. There were no convenience stores near the Mount Wolha hiking trail. Rather than go hunting for one, I was better off heading home and mixing up some instant soup.

I set off with a light step. Whether it was thanks to the massive stat increases or not, my movements were incomparably more agile than before. Then it occurred to me that I hadn't raised Agility by a single point. Strength probably fed into agility to some degree as well.

Or maybe awakening as a Hunter had simply improved my physical capabilities across the board. Hunters in general — combat-type or otherwise — put out far more power than ordinary people.

Even a ten-year-old Hunter had the physical ability to overpower an adult man without much trouble. Of course, Hunters who awakened at ten were vanishingly rare worldwide. The youngest on record was eight, if I remembered right?

It had always been so far removed from my life that I'd never paid it any real attention. From now on, it was going to be relevant, so I'd better start listening.

"Ah — wait. How am I supposed to register as a Hunter? I can't exactly register with Power of Sex, of all things…"

It wasn't that I couldn't. It would just draw way too much attention. Annoying complications would sprout up overnight; that much was obvious. I turned it over in my head on the walk home.

The answer came surprisingly fast. I didn't need to register with Power of Sex at all. The Association people couldn't pinpoint exactly what ability I had anyway.

A Hunter's true ability was something only the Hunter themselves could know. The Association could analyze a person's mana volume with a mana analyzer and determine whether they were a Hunter or not — that was as far as it went.

Hunters became aware of their own abilities the moment they awakened, so when they joined the Association they were expected to describe those abilities honestly. Unless you were some unsavory type dreaming of going Demonic, there was no reason to lie to the Association about what you could do.

Registering with the Hunter Association meant disclosing your ability, and a corresponding test would be conducted, which made hiding what you could do during registration effectively impossible. That, of course, was the general rule. My situation was different.

"I've got Time Acceleration on top of Power of Sex. I can just say I have a Body Acceleration ability. That should be fine."

Body Acceleration was a fairly common ability — a convenient mask to hide behind. While I was thinking it through, I arrived home.

It was a corridor-style villa of tiny one-room units packed side by side. Calling it a villa was generous; the building was only two stories. Ten households in total, and mine was the end unit on the second-floor corridor.

"Ah! Good evening."

I ran into an unexpected person at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠villa entrance. A beauty with fine, fair skin and lustrous black hair pulled tightly back. She was so impeccably composed and beautiful she could have passed for a princess from some ancient Eastern kingdom, and she offered me a bright little smile. Paying no mind to the freezing dawn air, she was dressed in short shorts and a T-shirt, which was decidedly alluring.

"Good evening, Sujin."

I bowed my head in greeting to Shin Sujin, the neighbor who lived in the unit right next to mine. She didn't belong in this dilapidated villa in the slightest, and she was an angel who treated even a guy like me with genuine kindness. Sacrilegiously enough, I'd even put her in my novels as a heroine a few times.

The name I'd given her was Seong Suji. Her role was, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more often than not, that of a heroine getting ravished.

"A lovely night… or is it too late to say that? It's already three in the morning. Baek… Baek… ah, I'm so sorry."

She started to say my name, then realized she couldn't remember anything past the surname and ducked her head. The fluster written all over her face was so cute that, honestly, I didn't feel the slightest bit offended. If I got to see an expression like that, she was welcome to forget my name as many times as she liked.

"It's Baek Jaeseong. You really don't have to remember it."

"Ah… no! Forgetting a precious neighbor's name — I'm so sorry. Work's been so busy lately my head's a complete mess."

Precious neighbor was a somewhat novel way of putting it. Individualism ran so rampant these days that it wasn't uncommon for an old man next door to die alone and not be found for days. She seemed like the type who wanted to hold on to something warm in a world that cold.

But what would she do if she found out that the neighbor she treated so preciously had put her in dirty novels and ravished her on the page, over and over? A confession, while I'm at it: I'd gotten myself off to thoughts of her more than a few times. I'd specifically hunt down porn actresses who looked like Sujin and milk out thick ropes of cum while picturing her face. Those sessions were what fueled the ravishment novels I wrote with her as the lead.

Thinking about it now, I really was a massive piece of trash. Then again, it was a world that refused to recognize my worth that made me this way. So really, none of this was my fault. And even if it was, it was barely a chick's tear's worth of fault.

"Were you out for a walk, Jaeseong? Come to think of it, you said you write novels, didn't you?"

Ugh. Right in a sore spot. I was always reluctant to admit I wrote adult novels in front of a woman, so whenever the subject of my job came up, I shut it down with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simple, "I'm just a writer nobody reads."

"Yes. I stepped out for a bit to try to come up with some material… More importantly, what are you doing out at this hour, Sujin? Were you out for a walk as well?"

I hastily steered the conversation elsewhere. Her expression darkened, just a little.