Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Midterm Dance Evaluation (4)
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"Fuck off. Get out before I report you for sexual harassment."
I deliberately shot down Han Nam-do's offer, playing hard to get.
I knew that would make him want me even more. I'd been a guy once myself, after all.
"Ha, you fucking whore. Playing expensive like a bitch. Not even wearing underwear. Fuck, look at those tits."
"Kyaa!"
As expected, Han Nam-do's eyes burned with even greater desire for me.
I hadn't anticipated him groping me midway and lifting my clothes to expose my chest, though.
"...Fuck!"
"Whoa, whoa. If you change your mind later, let's talk again. I'm pretty damn good at it, you know. You won't hate it. Among the girls I've fucked, at least one or two can't forget the taste of my dick. Heh heh."
Having gotten an eyeful of my bare chest, he seemed in a great mood.
Han Nam-do even hummed a tune as he headed out the emergency exit.
"Hmmm, now that's a different story."
After Han Nam-do left.
I casually crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.
'That bastard Go Min-cheol acted all buddy-buddy with Han Nam-do. But he conveniently left out the most crucial info about me?'
Probably his pride was hurt.
He'd tried to fuck me, but at some point, the tables turned completely, and I'd toyed with him.
No way his male ego would let him admit that out loud.
Plus, he had no idea my race was succubus.
So he might've chalked up nearly dying from exhaustion during sex to his own stamina or skills being lacking.
'Or would most guys think that way?'
Aside from a few government folks.
Almost no one knew my race was succubus, let alone that succubi lived alongside humans in this world.
So yeah, they'd probably blame their own lack of stamina for feeling drained after sex.
'Makes sense. If that sly prick Go Min-cheol knew my true nature, he'd have pulled even shittier moves.'
He'd have reported me to the government right away.
Claiming a succubus sucked his essence dry against his will.
That guy was exactly the type.
"Anyway, the most important thing right now... is that I used the holy magic 'Heal'."
Having holy power in my body was somewhat understandable.
Well, a succubus wielding holy power was a bit abnormal in itself...
But putting that aside...
I'd sucked dry a priest's essence as much as I could.
The real shocker came after.
'Having holy power and using it to cast holy magic are worlds apart.'
Regular folks don't know.
How intricate and finicky the field of 'magic' truly is.
Seeing comes with knowing, as they say.
Once you learn the Pythagorean theorem, calculating the hypotenuse of a right triangle gets way easier.
Without it, you'd have to measure it with a ruler yourself.
Magic's the same.
Study it, acquire the knowledge, and you can wield it as you wish.
Know nothing about it? Even a saintess's worth of holy power couldn't cast a simple Heal.
So here's the question.
Did I have knowledge of 'Heal', the basics of holy magic?
'No way.'
Asking myself that, I let out a hollow laugh.
Me, with not a speck of holy power? Why would I study that? I'm no holy magic otaku.
So what the hell is this?
[Heal]
[A very basic healing spell. Circulate holy power from A4 to B17, then gather it in your palm to heal the target's wounds.]
...No clue what A4 or B17 even mean.
But the exact method to cast Heal was crystal clear in my head.
"......"
In the silent emergency exit, I pondered for a long while, then wiped my mouth with one hand.
"Don't tell me......"
...I can absorb knowledge from the guys I fuck too?
"......"
Nothing else explained this situation.
But if true, it was even more baffling.
'Succubi have that kind of power?'
No matter how I thought about it, no.
I'd said it before: even a 4th Grade Hunter could toy with a succubus like a plaything and kill her easily.
Rare race or not.
From community posts by guys who'd encountered succubi.
They called them 'amazing disposable onaholes'.
"......"
Meaning those guys fucked succubi.
And handled them without much trouble afterward... Isn't that weird?
'Everyone I've fucked with got totally drained... Couldn't resist me at all in the moment.'
What if... I'm not a real succubus?
Or maybe the black magician's curse gave me some hidden power I don't even realize.
'In a way, I'm a mutant created by that curse.'
Not pureblood, so maybe unexpected powers.
"......"
Enough identity crisis.
If my hypothesis holds... I might navigate this bleak situation.
"Alright."
Hope glimmered.
And pretty high odds of success, at that.
I excitedly headed back to the practice room, then froze.
"Everyone, listen..."
"Let go! Fuck! I should've gone to another agency. I can't do another six months here!"
"Su-bin, calm down! You can't leave anyway! The contract says we're trainees for at least three years until debut! We signed it!"
"What the hell kind of clause is that? I didn't know!"
"Because this is Purem Entertainment!"
"......"
What the hell happened?
'Total chaos...'
Han Nam-do was nowhere in sight, probably slacking off somewhere.
In the practice room, the three other girls set to debut with me in 'Luminous' each showed different reactions.
Seol Su-bin, fuming and trying to storm out.
Han Ji-woo, maturely holding her back.
And finally...
"N-No, don't! Unnie! We've worked so hard all this time!"
One adorable chubby-cheeked girl anxiously trying her best to fix things... No, Kang Chae-rin.
"Su-bin, wait. Let's talk for a sec."
"Ha, fuck......"
As I stepped in to help the troubled Kang Chae-rin.
Seol Su-bin's eyes turned even more violent.
She glared at me, spewing curses.
"Look, maybe like Ji-woo unnie or Chae-rin said, it wasn't your fault. Right? I get it. But what can we do? You just piss me off so fucking much. Bluntly, without you, we'd have gotten through the eval fine. Pass or fail aside, we wouldn't have been screwed over unfairly."
"......"
"So yeah, you're the bad guy here. And me wanting to leave the team, the agency? That's on you!"
I nodded silently.
As I felt earlier, Seol Su-bin had a foul mouth.
But she wasn't wrong.
Sometimes, you need someone who blurts it out straight like her, consequences be damned.
'Great team, though?'
Cool-headed, mature Han Ji-woo.
Straightforward, skilled performer Seol Su-bin.
Overwhelmingly charming Kang Chae-rin.
...One clueless succubus who doesn't know dance or song from shit.
'Yeah, I'm definitely the odd one out.'
So I had to fix this.
Not just to avoid being the rolling stone, but to truly become their teammate.
"I'll take responsibility."
"How?"
"Can you give me three days? I'll max out my dance skills in that time."
I'd steeled myself to say it.
But to Seol Su-bin, it sounded like pure bullshit.
"Hahaha! Ahahaha! Fuck, I'm losing it. Who are you trying to piss off? No, even a street busker from Hongdae dances better than you. Three days? Bullshit. What, you gonna cram knowledge straight into your brain? You an AI? Supercomputer? Huh?!"
Her 'cram knowledge into your brain' line made me flinch.
Because that's exactly what I planned.
'Not just straightforward—she's got killer intuition.'
Most of her barbs had hit dead center.
She could run a fortune-telling joint.
"If."
"...?"
"If I don't shape up in three days, I'll take responsibility somehow so you three don't suffer."
Seol Su-bin didn't react.
"You mean that?"
Han Ji-woo did.
Her unwavering gaze carried heavy pressure.
The more I saw, the more she suited leader.
"Yes. I mean it."
"Okay, got it. Su-bin, chill a bit. Stop cursing at someone way more unnie than us. Looks bad. I told you before—fix that mouth. It won't do you any favors if someone hears. It'll all backfire on you."
"...Yeah, okay."
Clap!
I jumped at the sudden applause, eyes wide.
Han Ji-woo smirked.
"Phew, honestly, it's been a shocking time for everyone. Hearing unnie say that eases my mind a bit. I was seriously debating life insurance payout."
"......"
Life insurance? For what...?
"Three days... Okay. We can wait that long. If unnie pulls off unexpected skills, we can practice more."
"Yes..."
"Fighting, unnie."
"......"
"Personally, I think adding unnie boosts our idol success odds. Just look at the global buzz."
"......"
"Hope things go as you plan."
Han Ji-woo extended her hand.
"Let's... become friends who can smile at each other."
Awkwardly shaking her hand, I thought.
She's... scarier than I thought.
"Even if I said that, Han Ji-woo and Seol Su-bin aren't expecting me to learn dance in three days."
Kang Chae-rin was so stunned by my promise she panicked too, so...
Realistically, impossible without genius talent.
"......"
But luckily, I knew how to become a 'genius'.
[010-XXXX-XXXX]
I texted Han Nam-do's number from Kang Chae-rin.
[Hey, Han Nam-do. It's Kim Hyun-ah.
Can you give me private lessons?]
Wherever he was slacking.
Reply came in under a minute.
[Possible. Assuming you're cooperating with me, bitch.]
Then...
Time to see what being a genius feels like?