Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Is the Protagonist Hiding His Power?
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"Hic...!"
"Hold on, Liriana. I'm sorry. Don't cry."
I could've handled it if she'd just cursed me out and thrown a fit, but her breaking down into tears like this was too much to bear.
What do I do? I offered her the chicken I'd brought as a peace offering.
"Want some of this?"
"Get lost! I'm not eating anything you give me! Sob!"
No dice.
She was crying so pitifully that I started feeling like absolute trash.
But hold on—she's the one who did something shady first and got caught. Now she's bawling her eyes out.
Isn't this straight-up criminal mindset?
Was I really in the wrong here to begin with?
"Why! Why did you summon me and turn me into this?! I was living just fine until now! None of this would've happened without you! Why'd you make me a pervert and look at me like that?!"
Liriana wailed and screamed through her tears.
Haa.
"You call me a pervert all the time too."
"You're a pervert bastard, so it's true! Why drag me down with you, you pervert bastard?!"
Damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do?
I almost said, 'You're the real pervert for fingering yourself nonstop for three days straight,' but that would've been impossible to come back from, so I held my tongue.
Right. First things first, let's just get past this moment.
"Th-that's it!"
"Sniff...?"
I suddenly acted like a scientist who'd just shouted Eureka, reacting as if a brilliant idea had struck me.
Liriana paused her crying a bit and turned her attention to me.
"Maybe as your contractor, my perversion is rubbing off on you, making your lust suddenly boil over? You're not actually at fault!"
"...Sniff?"
And so began my nonsense to calm Liriana down.
"Think about it. Why would a pure girl like you suddenly act like that? It's all my fault, I tell you."
"...Y-yeah! You're right! It's all your fault, you pervert bastard!"
"...Yeah. Sorry."
"You dick-hosting incubus spawn!"
Liriana mulled it over and seemed convinced it made sense enough.
Delighted to have an excuse, she hurled insults at me while regaining her smile.
"Yeah, it's all my fault. For now, eat some chicken and calm down."
"Fine. And since your perversion is contagious, stay away from me."
"...Sure. Do whatever."
Liriana finally looked relieved, like her worries were solved, and started tearing into the chicken.
Thank goodness she's a simple succubus.
But seriously, what suddenly turned Liriana into that?
A celibate old maid with zero interest in sex suddenly masturbating nonstop for three days—what the hell happened to make that possible? I couldn't even imagine.
"Haa, I get the cause now. But my current situation is pretty serious."
"What's so serious?"
Liriana munched on chicken and dropped a bombshell.
"What else? My lust keeps surging because of you! It's definitely your fault, so take responsibility!"
"How should I take responsibility? Want me to play living dildo?"
For once, Liriana was trying to help me beyond just earning money, and it made my heart swell.
I summoned a succubus—of course this is how it should be!
"Y-you crazy bastard again!"
Thwack! Thwack!
"Why hit me?! You said you needed help!"
"You're talking nonsense! We need to find a real solution, not that!"
What, sex to relieve lust isn't a solution? Then what is?
"Fine. I'll look for a way."
I said that since promising to search seemed the only way to calm her.
"No folk remedies among humans for dealing with lust?"
"Folk remedy or whatever, usually people exercise or throw themselves into work to forget it."
"Hmm... Yeah. Maybe getting swept up in lust and only masturbating made it impossible to stop..."
I sighed as I watched Liriana mutter that embarrassing line quietly.
Just admit you're a pervert already.
"Right. Starting tomorrow, no more masturbating. Focus on exercise and streaming to forget the lust. Go Liriana!"
"Got it! Go Liriana!"
For some reason, I had a feeling this motivation wouldn't last long.
I just hoped it wouldn't explode beyond what I could handle...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Haa. What a shitty morning."
Today was Monday. Time to head to the academy.
I should've rested fully over the weekend, but I'd been running around too much, and my body ached.
"You okay? You look rough."
"Just tired. Ran around a lot over the weekend."
"I skipped Friday's class, so I'm dying to know what happened. How'd things go with Mine? You make up with the others?"
He had no way to contact Kim Young-han, so he didn't know about the events up to now.
But I had no desire to get a guy's number either. He hadn't brought it up, so we were on the same page.
We chatted idly with Kim Young-han until we reached the first-year classroom building.
I headed toward Lucy and Lumi, while he went to his other friends. We parted naturally.
Guy knew how to separate work and personal perfectly.
In the classroom corner, Do Jin-hyuk's crew always hogged the seats as a group, cackling away. No matter how you sliced it, they screamed losers.
Tsk tsk.
"Good morning."
I naturally took the seat behind Lucy and greeted them.
"Hey."
"Good morning, Ho-yeon."
The two turned around to greet me back.
Lucy wore a cardigan over her uniform, hiding her figure as much as possible.
Her chest was so huge that if she couldn't cover the center, it looked even sexier—but she seemed oblivious.
Lumi always dressed neatly in just the uniform.
But uniforms are the sluttiest outfit by nature.
To me, the cadet uniforms were basically cosplay, so they were always a feast for the eyes.
Plus, after becoming secret friends over the weekend, even just eye contact with Lumi stirred a reaction between my legs.
Lumi seemed the same; she met my eyes, smiled, and I got a faint smile in return.
"What? You two making eyes at each other?"
Lucy stuck her face right up to mine, staring intently.
What's her deal?
Bzzz—
She stared like she was shooting lasers from her eyes. Unsure how to respond, I just smiled.
Satisfied, Lucy grinned cheekily and turned back around.
"...?"
Did she want me to smile at her too? Why's she acting so childish?
★ Heroine Status Window ★ [Lucy] Favorability: 92 Lust: 40 Appetite: 30 Fatigue: 25 Current Status: Hehe. He's so handsome. I'd raised Lucy's favorability nicely, but now I was a bit unsure how to proceed.
Confessing and dating would complete her route, but I couldn't start dating anyone right now.
So, I needed another approach...
Any way to boost her lust?
Her favorability was already high, so targeting that seemed easiest.
"Professor's late today, huh?"
"Isn't it one-on-one spars today? Time to pay back last time's humiliation!"
Lucy was fired up, clenching her fists like she really wanted to go.
"Wanna spar with me?"
"Yeah! I lost last time, so I can win this time!"
It didn't matter who I sparred with. Not every match affected grades.
If Lucy wanted to, why not?
Wait—no, she likes bad boys.
Time for some push-pull.
"Hmm, lemme think about it."
"Aww, whyyy!"
"I'll just watch you two..."
Sparring was optional even in class. You could refuse.
Of course, chances to go all-out safely were rare, so serious hunter cadets had no reason to skip—but Lumi was support anyway, and she hated these spars.
"Everyone! Assemble in the arena by 10!"
A glasses-wearing guy announced from the door.
Not much time left till 10, so the cadets headed to the arena.
"Let's go ahead and wait."
"Okay."
"Sure."
We three got up and followed the crowd.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Homeroom Professor Kim Jin-hyuk was waiting in the arena.
"Everyone's here, so listen up. Today's class is self-directed. Pair up and check each other's skills. If you want a serious spar, hop in the arena. That's all."
Once Kim Jin-hyuk finished, cadets paired off and started sparring.
Lots jumped into the arena too. Safe chances to go full power were rare.
Perfect time to gauge your strength.
"Yaaay, let's go up!"
"Uh, what should I do..."
"Why hesitate?! You don't even have friends to pair with anyway!"
"..."
Hey, I've been busy conquering heroines—where's the time for friends?
Time to stop teasing and spar already.
"Fine, fine. I'm going up..."
"Hey. Lee Ho-yeon."
"?"
Not Lucy's voice. A guy's voice called my name, so I turned.
Some scrawny punk stood there.
"Spar with me?"
The weakling requested a match, looking pissed.
Who the hell is this guy?
Oh, right.
Do Jin-hyuk's lackey.
The one from dungeon training who shoulder-checked me, picked a fight, got chewed out, and tried to draw his sword.
I'd wanted to meet him then since Nam Da-eun cleared the dungeon too fast.
Shame I couldn't smash magic into his face.
"Hey, he's gotta spar with me first. Come back later."
Then Lucy chased the weakling off.
If Lucy didn't want it, oh well. She mattered way more than him.
"You heard. Later."
"Tch. Aren't you two frauds ashamed, strutting around like that?"
"What?"
He glared at me, so it was aimed my way, but what rumor had I gotten tangled in now?
Was this the protagonist's fate or something?
"Playing dumb? You cadets pretending to take down a two-horned Mine. Obviously Professor Im Sol handled it while you watched from behind."
"????"
It was so absurd I couldn't even retort.
Damn it, how did I take down Felix?
"...Where the hell did that rumor even start?"
My voice dropped without me realizing.
The weakling flinched a bit but glared back, pride kicking in.
"Everyone in the know already knows. Victoria Academy's 'Star Maker' bullshit."
"What a load of crap."
I was so wronged I could scream and jump.
For real.
Everyone's eyes turned our way. They were curious, so the rumor must be real.
Damn. My head hurts.
Lucy and Lumi's expressions didn't change—they must've known about it already.
But why tolerate it?
Especially Lucy. You're not the type to take this!
★ Heroine Status Window ★ [Lucy] Favorability: 92 Lust: 40 Appetite: 30 Fatigue: 25 Current Status: Endure it. Don't butt in and mess up again. No... You were there too... Oh.
Come to think of it, Lucy didn't actually see me take down Felix.
She was under the aphrodisiac spell, lying there.
She didn't even remember our sex, so her memory must blank after Felix ambushed.
She wanted to trust her friend me, but even she wasn't fully sure what was true.
"Ho-yeon. Ignore him and go."
"Y-yeah. Just ignore it."
Lucy and Lumi wanted to brush it off.
They were probably being considerate.
Even they half-doubted if I'd really beaten the Mine.
Fair enough—a cadet beating a two-horned Mine didn't make sense.
Two horns meant active B-rank hunter level at best.
Way beyond cadet tier.
Plus, sole witness Professor Im Sol cared zilch about others' business.
Even if the academy credited someone else for her kill, she'd shrug it off.
That's why the rumor spread.
But damn it, I really killed it.
"Obviously a self-made drama to hype up a parasite-looking guy like you and those big-titted unbalanced-growth twins."
"...Forget it. Not the first time. Let's go."
Lucy's usual fire was way dimmed.
Even more docile than canon. This wasn't docile—it was pushover territory.
Probably my fault for letting her go through the Felix incident.
She hid it well, but maybe trauma lingered.
Swallowing even that sexual harassment meant she hated trouble altogether now.
But this was too far. You gotta snap back when needed.
I hardened my face at the weakling, but Lucy grabbed my arm.
"Lee Ho-yeon! Just go already!"
Why's she so worried?
I didn't think I'd lose.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚡ Strength: 40 💨 Agility: 39 ✨ Magic Power: 48 💪 Stamina: 44 🍀 Endurance: 38 Unique Ability: Combat Sense Skills: Clairvoyance ??? : ??? Steady training and quest rewards had pulled my stats to cadet average.
Plus perks like [Combat Sense], [Mana Sensitivity], killer unique skill Clairvoyance, Cotton Guard, Acceleration—and I'd just beaten Felix...
Huh?
...Isn't this something only I know?
Others didn't know I'd gotten stronger.
Times I'd shown my power? That practical class where I caught monsters up to stage 7. But stage 7 is A-Class average.
Climbing from stage 5 might look like scraping from bottom to average.
I beat Lucy after, but I just dodged magic well—no big show.
In dungeon training, I joined fights sparingly, mostly tailing Nam Da-eun.
...What a feeble track record.
I'd worked hard, but in academy eyes, I was just playing with girls—dead last material!
My skyrocketing magic was only known to Professor Im Sol.
Then a nobody like that suddenly "kills" a two-horned Mine, and he's hot too? Witness: Im Sol.
If it was another prof, tons of interviews would've added credibility—but lazy Im Sol likely refused them all.
Thus, witness credibility tanked.
...Even I'd suspect a push if I heard this.
The logic flowed naturally.
"Huh?"
So everyone here...
Thinks I'm super weak?
Lucy and Lumi urging to leave 'cause they think I'm weak?
"..."
The twins' faces trembled anxiously.
No, girls. I'm strong, I swear.
Well, sure. Anxiety's fair.
Maybe the weakling's top-tier.
If the twins were this worried, probably.
But this situation was perfect for me.
Telling cadets I beat a Mine wouldn't hit home.
But living with this guy, he'd felt that strength firsthand.
Me beating him senseless? Instant bone-deep realization.
'Oh, he's way stronger than he looks. Don't mess with him.'
People fear the goblin threatening their backyard more than some demon lord across the continent.
Conclusion.
Beat the weakling black and blue—problem solved.
"Hey, you. Arena. Now."
I glanced at the weakling and hopped into the arena.