Survival Exam (6)

The treatment for Congenital Mana Disorder.

Of course I knew it.

Medes, a high-ranking executive of the demon organization Pandemic. Even among demons, he was a special specimen — his very heart had transformed into a mana stone. What I needed was that heart, which had been growing steadily stronger over decades of absorbing Medes's own mana. With it, the disorder could be cured.

And Medes didn't appear until the latter half of the original story.

Which meant, right now, there was no way to treat Elise's mana disorder.

So why the bluff? Because Elise didn't know a thing. Congenital Mana Disorder was a disease that even the Iris Guild — one of the world's mega-guilds — had thrown its full weight behind trying to cure, and failed. As long as Elise believed that Lee Ho-yeon had a method to treat it, I could spout whatever nonsense I wanted.

Nobody had ever discovered a real treatment, after all.

"Th-the treatment. Tell me too. Please."

"I'll tell you."

"R-really?"

Color flooded back into Elise's face. But I couldn't just roll over and hand it to her like some sucker. Now that my relationships with other women had been exposed, her route was going to be hard to follow as originally written. Other women had already claimed me first — she wasn't going to play the generous official wife the way she had in the original.

I needed to establish a relationship where I held the upper hand. And the first step toward that was overcoming her mana disorder.

Judging by her reaction, I won't be able to raise her affection quickly.

Even I wouldn't want to fall for a guy who already had women hanging off both arms. The goal was to keep the upper hand until Medes appeared and the rift with her older sister Irene began. If I could naturally stay in control until her conquest route kicked in, it might still be possible. But by the time that route started, her affection would need to be higher than in the original — she'd be starting already knowing I had other women, after all.

In other words, I had to raise Elise's affection while still keeping her beneath me.

Easier said than done.

I looked at Elise, who was watching me with her eyes shining, and spoke.

"Elise. There's something you need to do first, though."

"...?"

"Don't tell me you don't know what I mean."

Elise tilted her head, then caught the look on my face and lowered hers, as if it had just come back to her.

"Ah... I'm really sorry for investigating you behind your back and trying to use it as blackmail."

"Fine. I accept. I was just being petty about it anyway."

Honestly, a background check wasn't even something worth apologizing over. It left a bad taste, sure, but in the hunter world it was practically standard procedure. Mun Su-rin had run one on me too. Still, I needed the apology on record, even if it was just for form's sake. Little things like this were part of becoming the one in charge.

"About the treatment, then. It'll take at least a year. That all right with you?"

"Yeah. If it can actually be treated... I don't care how long it takes."

Medes wouldn't show up for a year, so I needed to buy time until then. Something that would produce a little real effect while also raising her affection...

One method flickered through my mind. Helping Rumi with her training had taught me how to control the mana inside another person's body. So injecting my own mana directly should be possible too. That would be more than enough to stall for time. And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I wanted to raise her affection on top of that, I just needed to deliver the mana in a slightly different way.

"Have you heard of a mana massage?"

"What?"

Elise looked like she was hearing the words for the first time. Of course she was. I'd just made them up.

"It's something I developed through research with some people I know... but it requires someone with a high level of mana control. Come here for a second."

I took Elise by the shoulders and injected a thread of my mana, then let it melt naturally into her mana circuits.

"Ah? What is this...?"

"Can you feel your mana increasing a little?"

"How is something like this even possible?"

"The result of a lot of hard work. I poured everything I had into treating my own mana disorder, you know."

A lie. It was thanks to my unique trait, Mana Sensitivity. Mana control was my specialty. Nobody else could probably pull this off. Putting mana into someone else's body to attack them, or to help them absorb an elixir, was a completely different matter from converting your own mana into theirs.

"To do it properly you'd need a top-grade mana stone... but I'll give you the abbreviated version."

I set my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand against Elise's back and breathed mana into her. Not a full tank, but enough for a few hours of activity.

"If you keep receiving this massage regularly, you'll start to feel things change, little by little."

"Thank you. Just help me during the survival exam. Once we're outside, if you teach me the method, I'll research it myself."

"Sure. For now, I'm the only one on my end who can still do this. The person who used to handle it has retired from active duty. If it doesn't work out, I'll help you."

"Okay. Thank you. I'll definitely repay you once we're out of here."

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

Elise was going to come looking for me again after the survival exam ended anyway. There wasn't a person alive who could perform mana control this sophisticated without Mana Sensitivity. If anything, once she got a taste, she'd come back for more.

Filling yourself with a mana stone was like forcing mana into the body from the outside — inefficient, with a lot of waste. I delivered mana directly into the circuits themselves. Because I was forcing my mana in, the circuits were forced to widen as well. Of course, a disease this stubborn wasn't going to be cured just because the circuits stretched a little. But for Elise, whose circuits were so narrow to begin with, even that process would feel like part of the treatment.

"For now... let's stick together during the survival exam."

"Okay."

"I only want one thing. Let's not make trouble for each other. I trust you. More precisely, I trust Elise's pride. You're not the type to walk away with a favor you didn't earn."

"That's a good way to put it. I do keep my pride."

We talked as we walked.

"A background check? Honestly, who doesn't run one? It's fine. I'm about to receive a favor token from your Guild Leader myself."

"Ah... right. The favor token. I got it from my father. I'll give it to you when the survival exam is over."

"Yeah? Thanks."

I'd use the favor token for Nam Da-eun. I'd need it later, when it came time to put pressure on the Buyer Guild. If I wanted to get by without leaning on the other heroines, I needed a fair amount of power of my own.

"Lee Ho-yeon. I... um... I'm running low."

"Come here."

Every few hours I set my hand on Elise's shoulder and fed her mana. Just a little at a time. If I felt like it, I could have filled her to the brim in a single pass — but then she wouldn't feel the gradual improvement, so I started her off in small doses on purpose.

"Thank you."

Elise offered her gratitude each time the mana settled into her. She claimed she only intended to impose during the survival exam, but she was going to keep coming to me for massages on the outside too. In the end, the simple act of receiving my massage over and over during the exam was building the foundation for me to hold the upper hand.

"Come to think of it, did you and Rumi decide to go separately?"

"...How do you know I met with Rumi?"

That was odd. Elise had left, then Rumi had come, then Rumi had left and Elise had come back. There was no way Elise could have seen the two of us together.

"Ah, ah... I saw her on my way here. Rumi was coming from your direction. And she was carrying food, so I figured she'd met with you."

"Ahh... I see."

I pretended to buy it and opened the status window.

...Suspicious.

Almost got caught doing what? She'd already told me she knew about my relationship with Rumi. What else was there left to get caught over?

There was one thing I needed to make clear, at least.

"Stay out of my relationships. We each look after our own territory."

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. ...Where are we going now?"

"Let's go look for treasure or supply crates for now. Or a boss monster. Those three should have the best rewards."

Elise had thrown out a new topic to bury ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her slip of the tongue.

I'll let it go for now.

If it were something truly important, she wouldn't slip again here. If I kept watching, I might get a feel for it — so I decided to wait.

We were climbing the mountain. The original story had a survival exam too, and of course I'd found a few treasures and knew where the boss monsters were. I headed for one of the locations I remembered. The treasure spots had been the same every playthrough, though the contents changed from run to run, so I had no idea what we'd actually find. But anything was a gain.

Elise slashed through the trees ahead, carving a path with her sword. Since I was giving her the massages, she was taking point. At least she had a conscience. For the record, I'd packed the sword just in case.

"Let's try this way. I have a feeling there's something here."

"...Are you sure?"

"It's not like you know anything anyway. Just follow my lead."

"Alright."

Elise hacked away at the trees with gusto, and I followed behind her.

"Okay, that actually does look suspicious..."

Elise stared, looking faintly stunned.

Called it. This is the spot.

We'd found a large boulder that was suspicious in the most obvious way possible.

"It's too hard for me to break."

Thud. Thud. It certainly looked solid just from looking at it.

"I'll open it. Stand back."

I gathered mana into my palm in a tightening helix and unleashed Spiral.

The boulder met ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my Spiral with a thunderous crack and shattered apart, revealing the mouth of a cave behind it.

"Let's go in."

"Okay."

The drone that had been tailing us since morning puttered into the cave after us. It had been following ever since Elise and I started traveling together. They were probably keeping an eye on us under the excuse that two promising cadets had formed an alliance.

Elise moved ahead at a careful pace, scanning the surroundings.

There aren't any monsters in here.

This big rock cave was finished the moment you broke the boulder. No traps, no monsters. Of course Elise had no way of knowing that, so I followed quietly behind her, summoning small orbs of fire now and then to light the way. Whenever she glanced back, I put on a tense expression and played along.

About ten minutes in, we came upon a treasure chest that all but announced itself as the reward.

"Let's open it."

"Wait. It could be a mimic. Don't let your guard down."

"Oh, right."

Fair enough — mimics did exist in this world. I summoned a flame and scorched the chest, attacking it with full theatrical commitment even though I already knew it wasn't a mimic.

"Looks fine. I'll open it."

"Be careful, just in case."

"Got it."

I opened the treasure chest. Inside was a single sheet of paper.

What is this?

"A health recovery ticket?"

I was still frowning at the paper when my smartwatch started to blink. I opened the survival exam app.

"......"

Baek A-young. You again?