Target Acquired
I had locked onto my target.
While I waited, a male idol and one more actress came in.
The male idol’s looks were a step above the girl group trainees from earlier. These ones had already debuted, by the look of them.
But a man’s face was none of my concern.
What mattered was the actress.
Same tier as the prettiest of the girl idols who had come in earlier.
Every one of them kept stealing glances at me, hyper-aware of my presence. No one said a word, but I could feel the thoughts running through their heads.
Who is that guy?
An actor?
Some new idol?
That was the look. Still, not a single one of them worked up the nerve to speak to me outright.
Curious, sure—but not curious enough to risk it. What if they asked and I turned out to be an active actor or idol? Instant social death for failing to recognize me. Or maybe they were already debuted themselves and pride kept their mouths shut.
A little more time passed, and a man who looked like the actress’s manager walked into the shop. He was older than most managers—team-leader level at an agency, by the air of him.
The moment he spotted the actress, he started scolding her.
“A-jeong. What are you doing sitting here?”
“They said I don’t have a reservation today… They told me to wait two hours for Teacher Shin.”
“What do you mean you don’t have a reservation? That idiot Tae-hyeong—what’s he doing if he can’t even book a salon? The interview’s in two hours. And A-jeong, if there was no reservation you should have told me ahead of time.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Or you should have asked them to squeeze you in early for the interview, or at least seen another stylist.”
“I’m sorry…”
So her name was A-jeong.
I’d never heard it before—must be a rookie actress. I had a vague memory of seeing her in a supporting role on some drama.
She was wearing an oversized printed sweatshirt, and even through that baggy fabric the sheer volume of her chest was impossible to miss. Not fat. My eye told me that was all breast.
Overwhelming, explosive breasts.
Slightly droopy eyes with a tiny tear mole as the accent. A little baby fat still clinging to her cheeks made her face round and rabbit-like. The bone structure itself wasn’t round, though—her jawline still held a clean V-shape. Once the last of the softness melted off, she’d have a face that was pure cute-sexy.
That face with those breasts. Textbook bagel girl.
Face alone, the idol from earlier might have edged her out, but the chest bonus clearly pushed her into S- territory.
And “Teacher Shin”—wasn’t that Shin Mi-yun, the vice representative whose appointment I’d taken?
Perfect timing for a business card.
I casually raised a hand and spoke to her manager.
“By Teacher Shin, do you mean Vice Representative Shin Mi-yun?”
“Yes, that’s right. Why?”
“Would you like me to give up my slot? I was next.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you. But…”
The manager looked me up and down.
“You’re an actor, right? I know every actor and idol profile worth knowing, but I’ve never seen this face.”
“Ah. I’m not an actor.”
“Idol, then?”
“Not an entertainer at all.”
“Ah… you’re not?”
The manager froze for a second, as if stunned. Then something seemed to click; he pulled a business card from his jacket and held it out to me.
“Noh Hak-gyu, team leader at TNB Entertainment. If you ever want to act, give me a call.”
So this was street casting.
He clearly didn’t want to let an SSS-class face walk away.
But I had zero interest in becoming a celebrity.
A card for a card.
I stuffed his into my wallet and pulled out one of my own.
NOIR CLINIC.
“This is what I do.”
“Ah… a clinic? Dermatology?”
“Not just skin. Broader than that.”
“Ah, aesthetics. So you’re in the industry after all.”
The reason a man who looked twenty-something at most could claim to be a clinic director without anyone batting an eye: expensive clothes and an expensive watch.
That was what the ten million won had bought me.
See? Even a twenty-year industry veteran of an entertainment company was nodding in acceptance.
Noh Hak-gyu clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. Shame. I thought I was about to pull the biggest find of my twenty-year managing career.”
I pointed at the actress beside him—A-jeong.
“Isn’t she someone worth betting on too?”
“A-jeong? She’s still got a long way to go. Honestly, you’d be better suited to this side of the business than aesthetics.”
“I’m not interested in entertainment, I’m afraid. Sorry. But if you call the number on that card, I’ll take special care of any TNB talent.”
As a bonus I handed a card to the actress as well. A-jeong glanced at her manager, then shyly accepted it.
“Rookie actress Baek A-jeong.”
She bowed her head in greeting, and the weight of her chest swayed heavily under the fabric—too much volume for even an oversized sweatshirt to hide. She had clearly chosen the baggy clothes on purpose to conceal them, yet they still announced themselves. That told you everything about the size.
How many cups is that? G? H?
While I was still estimating by eye, a salon staff member stepped into the waiting area.
“Sir, I’ll show you in now.”
I pointed at A-jeong.
“Ah—please take her first. I’m fine waiting.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, we’ve already agreed.”
“Understood. Then A-jeong first. This way, please.”
“Thank you.”
A-jeong bowed again and followed the staff member out.
My turn finally came.
My chair was right next to A-jeong’s. She was getting the finishing touches from an assistant designer. We exchanged a small nod through the mirror. She looked grateful for the slot. Even under the salon cape, the swell of her chest stood out. No matter how you looked at it, those weren’t merely large—they were explosive.
My eyes kept wanting to drift there, but the actual time my gaze lingered was only a fraction of a second. Getting caught staring this early would be a disaster.
Shin Mi-yun, freshly washed hands and blonde hair swinging, stepped up behind me.
“Hello. How can I help you today?”
“Just a styling, please. I have an important meeting this evening.”
I answered as calmly as I could, as if this were routine.
I am a clinic director. I am an aesthetics director.
The mental mantra seemed to work. Shin Mi-yun smiled brightly without a hint of suspicion.
“Then I’ll just tidy the ends and give you a clean blow-dry. Any product? Shall I comb it back with pomade?”
“No. Natural, please.”
“Of course. Natural it is.”
Her smile was genuinely warm. That was the power of the Erotic Demon God at work.
I turned my head slightly and looked toward A-jeong’s station in the mirror.
Our eyes met.
Her small, round face and gently drooping eyes stared at me blankly. The moment our gazes locked, she ducked her head. Embarrassed at being caught looking.
I wanted to pounce on her right then and there—but this wasn’t the murim, and doing something like that would mean spending the rest of my life in hiding.
Not an option.
Patience. I had waited thirty years; I could wait thirty more days.
The wait is bitter; the fruit is sweet.
A-jeong finished and headed out. The rear view through the mirror was substantial. Her exit was a shame, but this wasn’t the moment to stake my life on her. Focus on the target in front of me.
Right now, the goal was Shin Mi-yun.
She worked on my hair as she spoke.
“My, your hair is in wonderful condition.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen a man with hair this healthy.”
She praised me while trimming the ends.
Shin Mi-yun was older than A-jeong, and neither her face nor her chest could compare—but she had a slender elegance. A-jeong the celebrity simply outclassed her; on her own, Shin Mi-yun was still someone who turned heads wherever she went.
A- isn’t a common rating.
I hadn’t chosen her at random. For my future harem life, her looks sat right on the cut-off line. Ideally I’d fill the roster with nothing but S-ranks, but this was fine.
She was going to be the bait that reeled in the celebrities. I needed to bring her under my wing properly from the start.
“An important meeting—is it an audition?”
Shin Mi-yun kept the small talk going.
“An audition?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen you in our shop before. Are you an actor? A singer?”
“No. I’m not in entertainment.”
“Oh, you’re not? Wow…”
She looked me over again—face, hair, shoulders, body—and let out a soft sound of admiration. The reaction of someone who couldn’t understand how a face like this wasn’t on camera.
“Your hair and skin are so good… I was sure you were an actor or an idol.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
“Do you get professional treatments?”
“Treatments?”
Perfect.
I’d been wondering how to steer the conversation this way, and she had opened the door herself.
“I don’t so much receive them as do them myself.”
“Oh? How? We use all kinds of products to take care of our clients’ hair, but nothing really beats natural quality. And we change our own styles so often…”
She murmured, fingering the bleached, damaged ends of her own hair.
“Would you like me to show you my method?”
“Really? We’d love that!”
I took a business card from my pocket and handed it to her. She accepted it with the hand still holding the scissors and stared at it blankly.
“Noir… Clinic?”
“Yes. An aesthetics clinic. Skin care, body contouring… hair, of course.”
“Ah. An aesthetics clinic…”
She looked mildly surprised by my unexpected identity, and a little skeptical. The industry was crawling with frauds, after all.
But the power of the Erotic Demon God was that looks and presence alone made people accept anything.
“We use a rather unique technique. Similar to meridian massage.”
“Ah…”
“Would you like to try it once? I can do a short session right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
When I nodded with complete confidence, her gaze wavered instead. The look of someone who wanted to try it—yet felt awkward about receiving care from a client in her own workplace.
In the end, she agreed to let me give her a treatment.
She set down the scissors and closed the door to the vice representative’s private room.
A brief window free of other eyes.
I stood quickly and sat her in my chair.
Client and stylist had switched places.
No hesitation here.
The opportunity had come fast. I wasn’t about to waste it.
I placed my hands on Shin Mi-yun’s scalp and drew up the power of the erotic art.
A little nervous.
I had trained in the Joyous Erotic Demonic Art for thirty years, but this was the first time I would alter another person’s body. Until now I had focused almost entirely on internal energy. Because of the virgin-cultivation nature of the art, without achieving Rebirth and becoming the Erotic Demon God, I could do nothing else.
How to channel qi into another body for physical correction—I had only ever studied that from books.
First real combat.
I had burned every scrap of internal energy on Rebirth. My reserves were zero.
But I had the Joyous Transmission Art, which converted pleasure, excitement, and lust into internal energy.
First I pressed the acupoints for a pleasant, refreshing sensation, while lightly brushing the nape of her neck and the area behind her ears to coax a subtler stimulation.
“Mmm… ah. That feels good.”
Shin Mi-yun closed her eyes and sank into the scalp massage. She was already melting under my hands.
“Hnn… ah.”
Above her head, the text changed.
Huh? Ears and neck?
Exactly where I was pressing.
And when I stroked those spots gently, her reaction grew distinctly interesting.
Erogenous zones?
If the Erotic Demon God was pointing them out, they had to be. I kept stimulating them, and finally something began to respond.
“Aaa… nnh!”
A faint red aura rose from the back of her neck and around her ears and was absorbed into my hands.
The energy of pleasure and excitement. The qi of desire. Erotic qi.
I converted it into internal energy through the Joyous Transmission Art.
Oh, it works! Only a little, but it’s converting into internal energy.
“Mmmnn…”
Shin Mi-yun kept her eyes closed, savoring the mild pleasure.
Now it was time for Sovereign Face and Bone Alteration, the technique that reshaped appearance.
I took the faint internal energy gathering in my dantian and sent it back through my hands into her hair, restoring the damaged strands.
I was burning the entire first harvest of real combat energy immediately—but there was no need to hoard such a tiny amount. I had a much bigger picture to paint.
“Hooo… you’re really good at this. My head feels so clear and cool.”
The split ends were slowly healing. The dry, brittle hair began to regain its soft, glossy sway.
Sovereign Face and Bone Alteration shaped by hand is temporary, but it’ll do for now.
Done.
This was enough.
“All finished.”
“Al-already?”
“Yes. It’s been a full ten minutes.”
“My goodness, time flew… It really does feel amazing…!”
Startled that ten minutes had already passed, Shin Mi-yun opened her eyes and looked in the mirror.
“I only did a simple version. Want to feel it for yourself?”
“Really?”
She smiled out of politeness. The massage had left her feeling good, but she clearly didn’t fully believe me yet.
Hair recovering in ten minutes? Doubtful.
And then—
“Oh my god!? It’s real?”
She held strand after strand up to the mirror, stunned by the results of the massage.
“Your hair was quite damaged, so it won’t last long. This was just a little taste. If you want a proper treatment, call the number on the card. For the vice representative, I’ll give you a special rate.”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll definitely call!”
She clasped both hands together, eyes shining with gratitude, and promised she would.
I would tame her with the erotic art—and use her as bait to draw in the rest of the celebrities.