Chapter 80

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 80

Chapter Title: Business (5)

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I opened my status window for the first time in a while.

A hefty list of updates filled my vision.

Clone Creation had leveled up again.

Lv.5.

Finally, this damn Mythic skill that refused to budge had hit level 5.

'Two at once, huh.'

I shoved the lewd thoughts floating through my mind aside and refocused on the status window.

These were skills that had gone up from auto-hunting.

Sister Cheon Da-eun was still grinding away.

Rift clears had dropped off, so the total EXP wasn't that high.

And finally, my mating skills...

'Ooh, looks like a bunch more showed up.'

First up, Incubus Body.

Charm and Growth Spurt got absorbed, evolving into the Incubus Body skill.

Losing Growth Spurt was a shame, but hey, I'd squeezed everything I could out of it. My height was pushing close to 180 now anyway.

Thinking back to when I couldn't even clear average height, it really made my heart swell.

And another new skill.

Reproductive Instinct Stimulation.

'This...'

Does it mean I've become a better man?

'But I'm total trash.'

For women to see a guy like me as breeding material—what an end-times sign.

It was basically saying every woman would go crazy for host bars and blow their cash.

And that meant I had to show this skill list to Raupe...

Um...

'Maybe I should bail.'

I seriously considered it.

But we'd come this far—back out now?

Screw it.

I gritted my teeth and laid everything bare for her.

A translucent blue window floated in the air.

Tap, tap.

Her fingers drummed the armchair again.

Her third eye slowly scanned my status window from top to bottom.

The first thing that caught her gaze was, without a doubt, the Mythic-grade skill, [Clone Creation].

"A Mythic-grade creation skill... As expected, you're no ordinary one."

Her voice held admiration mixed with a tone of 'I knew it.'

But the moment the scroll dropped lower.

Cracks began to form in her haughty expression for the first time.

"Incubus Body?"

Her third eye narrowed.

And below it, the parade of vulgar, depraved skills unfolded.

Virility, Disarmament, Semen Control, Incubus Pleasure Magic...

When it reached [Reproductive Instinct Stimulation].

Her lofty expression crumbled in an instant.

"Th-this is..."

Raupe's third eye shook violently, like an earthquake had hit.

She alternated between staring at the status window and me in disbelief.

And finally, as if all the puzzle pieces clicked, she let out a hollow sigh.

"Ah."

She made a face like she'd figured it out.

Why her perfect mental domination space had been helplessly eroded by a mere student's 'pervy fantasies'—she got it now.

"So that's why... that's why my space got invaded by your lowbrow imagination."

She trembled slightly, lips pressed tight as if suppressing bursting shame.

She said nothing more, just turned her head away.

And at last, she revealed everything about herself to me.

Eight skills.

And at the top of that list, a gleaming golden name.

Mythic-grade skill, [Imagination Realization].

She was another Mythic skill holder like me.

'As expected.'

In the game, her abilities were just vaguely described as 'powerful,' but seeing them laid out in crisp text like this, the sheer intimidation was beyond imagination.

All those abilities combined organically to build this mansion as its own 'world.'

'But what's this?'

Mansion Management.

A skill that'd fit some maid, sandwiched between those heavy-hitters.

It screamed 'decades-old hobby.'

And scrolling further down, to her deepest secret.

The shackle I'd only vaguely guessed at appeared in vivid crimson text.

Ah.

So that's it.

This was why she was so powerful—and her greatest fatal flaw.

[Imagination Realization] was originally Legendary-grade, forcibly boosted to Mythic by this curse.

'Absolute grade is separate from skills, only applied in certain rifts.'

Absolute rules.

In some rifts, you had to follow them strictly.

In game-brain terms, these were 'mechanics.'

Seeing this, I could tell how ironclad her contract was.

Probably the 1st-gen heroes who cleared the Great Rift had sealed this dangerous witch here forever with it.

"......"

I quietly gazed at her.

She noticed my eyes on the curse and turned her head, blushing like a girl caught with her deepest shame exposed.

She looked less like an intimidating witch and more like a woman lonely for ages, locked away.

I silently closed the status window.

"Satisfied now? We can proceed with the contract?"

"Yes."

I asked calmly, and she slowly nodded. She agreed.

I pulled two prepared parchments from my pocket and placed them on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠table before her.

'Giant's Might' and 'Instant Regeneration' substitute recipes.

Raupe's eyes stayed glued to the parchments for a long time.

Her third eye bored into every letter like it was piercing through. After who-knows-how-long, she finally looked up and murmured in disbelief.

"...Truly wondrous. Normal alchemy is about grasping the inherent properties of ingredients and drawing new results from their interactions. But... these recipes barely have any interactions."

Her eyes sparkled like a scholar facing an unsolved riddle.

"It's like... some bored divine being arbitrarily wrote into the world's laws, 'Mix these ingredients, and this effect pops out'—pure mischief."

Spot on with the god part.

Who else but the game director is a god?

"So, what's the source of these recipes?"

"Beats me, I just found them somewhere."

"Where?"

"Does it matter that much?"

I lightly countered, and she fell silent for a moment.

"What matters is that these recipes exist, and... more like them will keep popping up."

I couldn't recall the exact recipes, but I rattled off other elixir names from my head.

Eagle's Eyes, Cat's Agility, Salamander's Skin...

All cheap substitute elixirs newbie hunters made on the cheap in the early game.

Her third eye gleamed with sharp insight as she listened.

"Hmm, I should look into it. These recipes defy all rules... but externally, they share patterns. Made only from low-grade materials any novice hunter can scrounge. Meaning the ingredient pool is limited."

She poured out her thoughts passionately, like a scholar cracking a complex law to find one clear answer.

And she stopped prying about the recipes' origin.

Instead, she drafted two contracts and slid them over.

After some haggling,

20% royalties on all profits from the two recipes I provided.

And without pause, she offered another contract.

"What's this?"

"Payment for the info on those patterns. 10,000. Fair, right?"

10,000 magic stones!

A leather pouch enchanted with expansion magic was thrust into my hands.

Inside, countless blue magic stones sparkled like the Milky Way.

It dwarfed a mid-tier guild's ten-year budget—an unimaginable fortune!

'Whoa, damn, this lady's a real whale.'

Her proactively offering without me asking proved witches made rational business partners.

No wonder folks kept picking the evil route.

I silently thanked the witch's grace and pocketed the heavy pouch.

The two contracts were sealed with our mana. As I added the final stroke, the mana ink soaked in, runes glowing faintly before vanishing. Our deal was done.

That was when.

Just as I thought it was over, she pulled out a new proposal.

"This isn't a formal contract, but since you're my contract partner now, I have a proposal. Inspired by your Clone Creation skill..."

She continued.

"Could you make one of your clones—your main body's clone—and station it here in my mansion?"

"..."

"Of course, it's symbolic too—for info sharing and ongoing cooperation. So we can exchange thoughts anytime."

She drove it home with an irresistible offer.

"In exchange, on top of that Finch family slave, I'll provide one of my phantoms as your perfect combatant. Borrow a piece of my power whenever you need. It'll weaken a bit on the surface, but still plenty useful."

I couldn't help but grimace at the proposal.

"Sorry, but that's... Honestly, I've never made a clone of myself. Not sure I even can."

And that wasn't the only issue.

'Crazy. Connect a mana tether all the way here?'

To maintain a distant clone, an invisible mana tether had to link my main body to supply power.

Stretching it to the depths of this mansion...

'How much mana would that guzzle continuously?'

A chilling calculation flashed through my mind.

No matter how tempting her phantom, this was way too costly.

"Ah. I see."

She pondered my words briefly, then offered a simple fix.

"It doesn't have to look like you. Any clone you can communicate with works. Problem solved, right?"

Hmm.

I hadn't revealed the mana tether's existence.

Clone summon range could be a weakness.

I hesitated.

Spill it or not?

I decided on a vague answer.

"...The distance is so far, it'd take a ton of mana. Isn't that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inefficient?"

At my honest confession, the witch looked at me like I'd said the dumbest thing ever.

"What's the problem with that?"

"Huh?"

"Mana's the issue? Just increase your mana."

"Easier said than done..."

Her third eye curved into a beautiful arc at my grumbling.

She was smiling.

"No helping it, then."

She snapped her fingers, and a heavy leather bag thudded onto the table before me.

Opening it revealed dozens of top-grade mana elixirs, glowing with brilliant blue light.

Worlds apart from the bottom-tier substitutes I'd made—real deal mana potions.

"If you're short on mana, just drink elixirs, no?"

They weren't mass-produced Maker goods, but the mana density in each proved her overwhelming herbalist prowess.