The Protagonist Hides His Power?

"Hic..."

"Hold on, Liliana. I'm sorry. Don't cry."

If she'd just cursed me out and thrown a fit, I could've taken it. The second she burst into tears, I had no idea what to do.

What now? I held out the takeout chicken I'd brought home.

"Want some of this?"

"Get lost! I'm not eating anything you gave me! Hic!"

That didn't work.

She was crying so wretchedly I was starting to feel like a genuine piece of garbage. Then again — she'd been the one doing something shady in the first place, and now that she'd gotten caught, she was bursting into tears?

Wasn't this straight-up criminal logic? Was I even the one in the wrong here?

"Why?! Why did you summon me just to turn me into this?! I was living just fine until now! If it weren't for you, none of this would've happened! Why turn me into a pervert and then look at me like that?!"

Liliana wailed at the top of her lungs, sobbing her heart out.

Haa.

"You call me a pervert all the time, too."

"Because you are a pervert, you bastard! Why'd you have to turn me into one too, you sick freak?!"

Oh, for fuck's sake. What the hell did she want me to do?

I almost shot back with, You're the real pervert here — you're the one who's been fingering yourself for three days straight, but that would've been genuinely unsalvageable, so I held my tongue.

Fine. Let's just get through this first.

"That's it! That's it right there!"

"Hic...?"

I struck a pose like a scientist who'd just shouted Eureka, as if a brilliant idea had slammed into me out of nowhere. Liliana's sobbing eased a little as she turned her attention toward me.

"What if your libido suddenly exploded because I'm your contractor, and I'm a pervert? So none of this is actually your fault!"

"...Sniff?"

And so I launched into a stream of complete nonsense, all for the sake of calming her down.

"Think about it. Why would a pure girl like you suddenly act like that? It's all my fault."

"...Y-yeah! That's right! It's all your fault! You perverted bastard!"

"...Yeah. Sorry."

"You cock-hosting bastard! You incubus spawn!"

Liliana mulled it over, then apparently decided the argument was reasonably convincing. Delighted to have found an excuse, she tore into me with relish, her smile returning as she went.

"Yeah, it's all my fault. So just eat some chicken and calm down."

"Fine. And don't come near me. Your pervert energy is contagious."

"...Sure. Whatever you want."

Liliana finally started tearing into the chicken, her face cleared like a weight had been lifted. Thank god she was a simple-minded succubus.

But seriously — what the hell had happened to her all of a sudden? I couldn't even imagine what it would take for a virgin who'd never given sex a second thought to spend three straight days masturbating.

"Haa. I figured out the cause, but my situation is pretty serious right now."

"What's so serious?"

Liliana said this with a completely straight face while ripping into a piece of chicken.

"What do you think?! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠My libido keeps rising because of you! It's obviously your fault, so you take responsibility!"

"How am I supposed to take responsibility? Want me to play living dildo for you?"

A swell of grandeur filled my chest. At last, Liliana was trying to be useful for something other than making money. I summoned a succubus — of course this is how it should be!

"Y-you crazy bastard, not again!"

Thwack! Thwack!

"Why are you hitting me?! You asked me to help!"

"Because you're talking garbage! We need to find a method! How can you even say something like that?!"

If sex isn't a method for relieving sexual desire, then what the hell is?

"Alright. I'll look for a way."

I figured saying I'd at least look would calm her down.

"Isn't there some kind of folk remedy humans use to deal with lust?"

"I don't know if you'd call it a folk remedy, but people usually just work out or throw themselves into something and try to forget about it."

"Mmm... you're right. Maybe I just got so swept up in it and kept masturbating that I couldn't stop anymore...."

I sighed as Liliana muttered something deeply embarrassing under her breath.

It's because you're a pervert, okay?

"Alright. Starting tomorrow, no more masturbating. Just work out hard and stream hard and forget about the lust. You got this, Liliana!"

"Okay! I got this!"

Somehow, I had a feeling this pep talk wasn't going to last. I just hoped it wouldn't explode in a way I couldn't handle.

"Haa. What a shitty morning."

Today was Monday. A day I had to show up at the academy. I should've spent the weekend actually resting, but I'd run myself so ragged that my body was paying for it.

"You alright? You look rough."

"I'm fine. Just tired. Ran around a lot over the weekend."

"I skipped Friday's class, so I'm dying to know what happened. What about the demon? And did you make up with the girls?"

Kim Young-han had no way of contacting me, so of course he was in the dark about everything. Not that I'd wanted his number in the first place. He never brought it up either, so we were probably on the same page about that.

We shot the breeze until we reached the first-year lecture building, then split off without a word — me toward Lucy and Rumi, him toward his other friends. He was the type who kept business and personal strictly separate.

Do Jinhyeok's clique had claimed their usual corner of the classroom, cackling among themselves. No matter how you looked at them, they were a bunch of losers.

Tsk tsk.

"Morning."

I dropped naturally into the seat behind Lucy and offered a greeting.

"Hey."

"Good morning, Ho-yeon."

Both of them turned around to answer. Lucy had pulled a cardigan on over her cadet uniform, doing everything she could to hide her figure. Her chest was so large that failing to cover the center only made it look more revealing — not that she seemed to realize it. Rumi, as always, wore nothing but the uniform itself, neat and proper.

Then again, they say a school uniform is the sexiest outfit there is. To my eyes the cadet uniform might as well have been a cosplay, and I never got tired of looking.

On top of that, we'd become secret friends over the weekend. Even locking eyes with Rumi was enough to get a twitch of a reaction between my legs. She seemed to feel the same — when I caught her gaze and smiled, she gave me a faint smile right back.

"What? Why are you two staring at each other?"

Lucy shoved her face straight toward mine and kept staring.

What's her deal?

She was looking into my eyes like she was about to fire lasers from them. I had no idea what kind of reaction she wanted, so I just smiled. Lucy took one look at my face, grinned in satisfaction, and turned back around.

"...?"

Had she just wanted me to look at her and smile too? When did she get so childish?

I'd gotten Lucy's affection up, but I was a little stuck on what to do next. Confessing and dating her would complete her route — except I couldn't actually date anyone right now. I'd have to find another way.

Is there some way to raise her lust?

Her affection was already high, so pushing from that angle would probably be the easiest path.

"The professor's running a little late, huh?"

"Isn't today one-on-one spars? Finally — time to pay you back for last time!"

Lucy was burning with competitive fire, her fists clenched tight. She really wanted this.

"You want to go with me?"

"Yeah! I lost last time, so I can win this time!"

It didn't really matter who I sparred with. Individual matches didn't all go on the grade sheet. If Lucy wanted a rematch, I might as well give her one.

Or maybe not. She had a thing for bad boys, after all. I should play a little hard to get.

"Hmm. Let me think about it?"

"Ah, come on!"

"I'll just watch you two...."

It was class, but spars weren't mandatory. You could refuse if you didn't feel like it. Of course, opportunities to go all-out in a safe environment were rare enough that any cadet seriously aiming to become a hunter had no reason to sit out — but Rumi was a support type anyway, and she hated this kind of match.

"Everyone! Assemble at the sparring hall by ten!"

A guy in glasses delivered the announcement from the doorway. Ten o'clock wasn't far off, and cadets were already filing toward the hall.

"Let's get there early and wait."

"Okay."

"Alright."

The three of us stood and fell in behind the crowd.

Homeroom professor Kim Jin-hyeok was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already waiting in the sparring hall.

"Now that everyone's here, listen up. Today's class is self-directed. Pair off and assess each other's skills. If you want a serious match, step up onto the arena. That's all."

The moment he finished, cadets started pairing off and sparring. Plenty of them climbed onto the arena itself. Opportunities to cut loose at full power this safely didn't come around often. It was the perfect time to measure what you were really capable of.

"Come on, let's go up."

"Ehh, I don't know...."

"What's the holdup?! You don't even have any other friends to spar with!"

"...."

Look, I was busy conquering heroines. When was I supposed to make friends?

Alright, enough teasing. Time to give her the match.

"Fine, fine. I'm going...."

"Hey. Lee Ho-yeon."

"?"

That wasn't Lucy's voice. It was definitely a guy's, and he'd called my name, so I turned around.

Some scrawny-looking kid was standing there.

"Spar with me."

The twig asked for a match with an angry look on his face. Who the hell was this?

Ah. I remembered.

Do Jinhyeok's lackey. The one who'd shoulder-checked me and picked a fight during the last dungeon practical, then eaten a mouthful of insults and tried to draw a blade. I hadn't gotten to deal with him then — Nam Da-eun had cleared the dungeon too fast. A shame I hadn't planted a spell in that face when I had the chance.

"Hey, he's already going with me. Come back later."

Lucy issued the eviction notice before I could. If she didn't want it, that was that. She mattered a lot more than this twig.

"You heard her. Come back later."

"Give me a break. Don't you two frauds have any shame, walking around with your heads held high?"

"What?"

He was glaring at me, so the comment was clearly aimed my way — but what rumor had I gotten dragged into this time that I had to listen to this?

Was this that whole protagonist-destiny thing?

"Playing dumb? I'm talking about you cadets pretending you took down a two-horned demon. Anyone can see Professor Lim Sol handled it while you two just watched from the back."

"?????"

I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even form a rebuttal.

Are you fucking kidding me? After everything I went through to take down Felix?

"...Where the hell did a rumor like that even come from?"

My voice dropped without my meaning it to. The twig in front of me flinched, then — pride apparently still intact — glared right back and kept talking.

"Everyone who matters already knows. They call it Victoria Academy's little star-making program."

"Bullshit."

I was so indignant I could've jumped out of my own skin. Seriously.

The surrounding cadets' eyes all swung our way. The way they were watching, hungry for the rest of this conversation, told me the rumor was actually making the rounds.

Wow. Fuck. My head hurt.

Lucy and Rumi's expressions hadn't changed at all, which meant the twins had already known this was going around.

Then why are you just sitting there taking it?

Lucy especially. This was not the kind of thing she usually let slide!

No... you were there with me... ah.

Come to think of it, Lucy had never actually seen me take down Felix. She'd been lying there lost in the arousal spell. Judging by the fact that she didn't even remember having sex with me, her memory probably cut off from the moment Felix ambushed her.

She was staying quiet because she wanted to believe me, her friend — but she might not be sure which version was the truth.

"Ho-yeon. Just ignore him and let's go."

"R-right. Just ignore him."

Lucy and Rumi just wanted to drop it. They were being considerate, most likely — because they themselves only half-believed I'd actually killed the demon.

Fair enough. A cadet taking down a two-horned demon didn't make any sense. Two horns put you on even footing with an active B-class hunter. That was a completely different dimension from cadet-level.

On top of that, the only witness was Professor Lim Sol, who famously couldn't care less about anyone else's business. Even if the academy handed her credit off to someone else, she had the kind of image that said she wouldn't bat an eye. That was how a rumor like this had spread.

Except I really did kill him, for fuck's sake.

"Anyone can see they cooked the whole thing up just to puff up a pretty-boy parasite like you and those lopsided twins who only grew in the chest."

"...Forget it. It's not the first time we've heard crap like that. Let's just go."

Lucy's personality had gotten dramatically milder. Milder than even the original story. This wasn't her becoming gentle — this was her becoming a doormat.

And that was probably my fault, for putting her through the Felix incident. She didn't show it, but she might have trauma now. The fact that she was willing to let even sexual harassment slide told me she just didn't want trouble of any kind.

But this wasn't right. There were times you needed to get angry.

I hardened my expression and looked at the scrawny bastard — and Lucy grabbed my arm.

"Lee Ho-yeon! I said let's just go!"

Why was she so worried?

It wasn't like I was going to lose a fight.

Steady training and quest rewards had pulled my stats up to the cadet average. On top of that I had my privileges — Combat Sense, Mana Sensitivity — plus rock-solid unique skills in Insight and Cotton Guard, plus Acceleration, and I'd recently taken down Felix besides....

Wait.

...Was I the only one who knew all that?

Come to think of it, nobody else had any idea I'd gotten stronger.

The only time I'd shown my combat ability was way back in practical class, when I'd taken down monsters. I'd made it to Stage 7, and Stage 7 was about the A-class average. But I'd climbed there from Stage 5, so from the outside it probably looked like I'd started at the bottom and barely scraped my way up to mediocre.

I'd beaten Lucy after that, sure — but even then I'd just dodged her magic well. I hadn't actually shown them anything. During the dungeon practical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd joined a few fights, but mostly I'd just trailed along behind Nam Da-eun.

...What was this pathetic career?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I'd been living my ass off, but all I'd really done was fool around with girls. At the academy, I'd been trash-tier!

And the only person who knew my magic was improving by leaps and bounds was Professor Lim Sol.

So picture it. Some nobody cadet with jack shit to his name suddenly makes the papers for killing a two-horned demon. The cadet in question is devastatingly good-looking. And the sole witness is none other than Professor Lim Sol.

If it had been any other professor, they would've given interview after interview and piled on testimony until the story had some weight. But knowing how annoyed Lim Sol had been at the time, she'd almost certainly turned down every interview request. Which meant the witness's credibility took a nosedive.

...If I'd heard this story myself, I would've suspected a publicity stunt too.

The thought connected itself, naturally.

"Huh?"

Then the kids here...

They all thought I was weak, didn't they?

Lucy and Rumi kept telling me to just leave because they thought I was weak too?

"...."

The twins' faces were trembling with anxiety.

No, girls. I'm strong, okay?

Well. Being worried was fair enough. For all I knew, that scrawny kid was a higher-ranked cadet than he looked. No — if Lucy and Rumi were this shaken, that was probably exactly the case.

But a situation like this actually worked in my favor.

I could tell these cadets a hundred times that I'd killed a demon and it would never land. This twig, on the other hand — they'd been living alongside him. They'd felt his strength firsthand, in their own bodies.

And if I beat the living hell out of a guy like that? They'd feel it in their bones.

Ah. That guy's way stronger than he looks. Better not pick a fight.

People were always more afraid of the goblin threatening their house on the back hill than the Demon King threatening the world from across the continent.

Conclusion.

Beat the scrawny kid to a pulp, and everything gets solved.

"Hey. You. Get up on the arena."

I glanced at the scrawny bastard and climbed onto the platform.