64. My Buff is a Drug
64. My Buff is a Drug
"Did you see that new handmade burger place that opened on the street today?"
"Yeah, yeah! I've been wanting to check it out too. Wanna go this evening?"
"If we go at peak time it'll be mobbed—let's get there early!"
First-year Kwon Jin-ah had one massive problem.
An impulse that had started flaring up out of nowhere not long ago.
When had it even begun?
The instant she saw a pale, pretty neck, she found herself absently thinking she wanted to strangle it...
'Ahh, don't. Don't... sweep your hair aside.'
The nape of a neck—usually hidden and only exposed when someone tidied their hair—was especially impossible to resist.
Her heart raced and her fingers trembled.
Like a moth flying into flame, she would gasp and drift slowly toward the neck.
If she grabbed it tight and pressed down hard, the person would thrash and resist.
They would be in agony, their face demanding why she was doing this.
Once they collapsed, legs kicking, their eyes would surely roll back.
And eventually, that precious thing would snap, revealing to her the greatest moment of her life...
'If I could do that. If only I could do that, it would be the purest ecstasy.'
If she just reached out her arm. If she reached out and put strength into it right now, she could kill them!
The urge spiked in an instant.
Like a demon's hand descending, she grabbed a female student by the neck.
"Huh? Jin-ah, what's up?"
"Ah."
Her reason snapped back in a flash.
"I—I thought there was some dust. I was just brushing it off."
"Is the dust gone?"
"Y-yeah."
That was close.
She had almost seized her for real and thrown her to the ground.
'What's... happening to me... I can't tell anyone about this...'
Who in the world could she tell that she wanted to strangle a woman to death?
Bottled up, her desire gradually seeped into territory she could no longer control.
-
"Over here, Lanfang!"
"Mas... Mister Buffer!"
Lanfang, who had been walking with a blank expression, broke into a full smile the moment she spotted Hye-yong and came running.
The way she threw herself into his arms right after meeting him and looked up at him was exactly like a puppy greeting its owner.
If she'd had a tail, she would've been wagging it like crazy.
But they had to separate quickly.
There could be eyes watching.
He grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her away.
"Have you been well?"
"Yes! I missed Mister Buffer so much—it was so hard to wait!"
They had agreed to use "Mister Buffer" instead of "Master" for her form of address.
If anyone saw her calling him "Master, Master" in such a delighted voice, they'd think they were doing some kind of master-slave S&M roleplay.
Rumors could spread, and it was bad for several reasons.
Calling him 'Mister Buffer' sounded a little odd if you just heard it out of context, but it got less awkward once you knew about raiding.
When party members who raided together weren't close enough to use each other's names casually, they often addressed each other by class role with a "Mister" or "Miss" attached.
Melee dealer was "Mister Melee," ranged dealer was "Mister Ranged," tank was "Mister Tank," and a blessing mage was "Mister Buffer."
You ended up with names like Mister Melee, Miss Ranged, Mister Tank, Mister Buffer.
Even classmates used these terms when they wanted to maintain a bit of formality.
So 'Mister Buffer' was a suitable replacement for 'Master.'
Of course, when they were alone with no one watching, she was to call him Master.
"Let's work hard today too, okay?"
"Of course! I'll do my best!"
Lanfang answered with a voice full of joy.
She hadn't originally had such a lively personality.
If anything, she used to lean more toward the gloomy side.
But last time, when she had begged Hye-yong to raise her, she had realized something.
That by her master's side, acting cute so that her master would find her adorable and be happy—that was the greatest virtue she could offer.
-
7 p.m.
Around that time, he had to part ways with Lanfang to get ready for his workout.
"I wanted to stay together a little longer..."
Hye-yong stroked Lanfang's head as she deliberately used her most pitiful-sounding voice.
"We both have our own lives. You're my precious pet dog, but you mustn't forget that you're a person in the eyes of others, okay? Other people will think it's strange. That'll cause trouble."
"Yes. Master, I'll keep that in mind... I can't let Master be troubled. Lanfang can do a good job."
After saying that, Hye-yong turned and left first.
Lanfang watched his retreating figure until he was out of sight, and only then did she turn around.
'Phew. Another day winding down.'
He walked down the hallway, the lights now on as evening approached.
As he walked without thinking, he spotted a familiar face.
"Yo, Chae Hwa-..."
His greeting cut off mid-sentence.
Because someone who looked exactly alike was walking beside her.
No, it was beyond looking alike.
They looked almost perfectly identical.
'So that's the twin. Interesting.'
Still, he felt like he could tell who Chae Hwa-ra was at a glance.
Their height and faces were similar, but the difference in chest size was dramatic.
Of the two walking toward him, Chae Hwa-ra flinched the moment she saw Hye-yong's face.
"Ugh... Choi Hye-yong."
"Whoa, Hwa-ra, I didn't know you had a twin little sister."
"Excuse me? Little sister?"
Huh?
The girl next to Chae Hwa-ra twitched an eyebrow and asked again.
Only then did he notice the name tag on her chest.
[ 3rd Year ]
[ Chae Ha-ri ]
'What—she's a third-year?'
Hye-yong immediately lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, senior. My eyes must've been playing tricks on me. I was mistaken."
When he'd first heard the word sibling, he'd assumed it was an older brother—not an older sister.
Her bust was bigger too, so why had he figured this person was the younger sister?
Maybe it was because her vibe seemed a little younger.
"Anyone can make a mistake, so I'll let it slide. But not twice."
Bzzzt!
Bright blue sparks of electricity flew from her hand.
'Wow, an electric-type ability user? Cool.'
Chae Hwa-ra's older sister, having just delivered that brief threat, soon snorted with a slight laugh and spoke.
"So you're junior Choi Hye-yong. I've heard quite a lot about you from Hwa-ra."
Chae Hwa-ra talked about him to her sister?
Finding that genuinely unexpected, Hye-yong glanced over at Chae Hwa-ra.
Chae Hwa-ra wore an expression that didn't look too pleased and was deliberately avoiding Hye-yong's gaze.
'Does she just hate this whole situation?'
But Hye-yong didn't have the right to end it.
He decided to just play it off smoothly.
"Ah, yes. I'm Choi Hye-yong."
"You must have quite a time looking after my immature little sister. As her older sister, I'll apologize on her behalf."
Oh.
He'd wondered what kind of concept Chae Hwa-ra's sister would have, but she might be a more decent person than he'd thought.
"No, not at all. Looking after her? We're just party members. I get a lot of help from Hwa-ra myself."
"Is that so? I've revised my opinion of you. Still, I'm relieved she seems to have found a proper party."
He glanced at Chae Hwa-ra's face and saw it had brightened a little.
It seemed he had handled himself properly.
"Well, Hwa-ra. We split off here, so head back on your own."
"...Got it, sis."
"And junior—please continue to take good care of our Hwa-ra."
"Yes, ma'am! Have a good evening, senior!"
Watching Chae Hwa-ra answer so obediently, Hye-yong had to suppress a laugh.
'So you can't do your concept act next to your sister, huh, Hwa-ra.'
Chae Hwa-ra was just standing there with a still-sullen face.
It was too awkward to just hang around like that, so he spoke first.
"We're headed the same way until we leave the building—want to walk together?"
"..."
"Comrade, the path laid down by 'That Person' guides us. Shall we not go together to fulfill our mission?"
Only after hearing that did her expression brighten a bit as she struck a pose and started to deliver her line.
"Ha! If 'That Person' guides us, then it cannot be hel..."
Bzzzt!
In that instant, blue sparks coiled around Chae Hwa-ra's body.
"GYAK!"
She screamed and then twitched and shook.
Hye-yong was completely bewildered by the situation.
"Hey, hey... are you okay?"
"Uwehh... She planted another one..."
The electric shock must have hurt, because a tear even trickled from Chae Hwa-ra's eye.
'That spark just now—that was her sister's doing, right?'
He'd thought she was a decent person, but seeing this, he wasn't so sure anymore.
"What happened?"
He decided to talk with Chae Hwa-ra as they walked.
"That wretch—she was born just a few hours before me, and yet she demands to be treated as the older sister every single time!"
"Even though there's no age gap, you're a first-year and she's a third-year?"
"Well... everyone's awakening period varies wildly."
Come to think of it, this was the first normal conversation he'd ever had with Chae Hwa-ra.
"She seemed like an electric-type ability user. You're blood sisters, but you don't have it?"
"I don't know. They say the manifestation can be late... ...Though this is pretty late."
When he'd made Chae Hwa-ra's character sheet, he'd never added any setting like that.
An older sister with an electric-type ability.
Then it wouldn't be strange for an electric-type ability to manifest in Chae Hwa-ra too.
'Is this my fault again?'
The odds were high, but Hye-yong decided not to blame himself.
It wasn't like he did it on purpose.
"What was that spark that suddenly went off earlier? You startled me."
"She's trying to correct my behavior...! The electricity reads my pronunciation or something, so every time I invoke 'That Person'..."
Bzzzt!
"GYAK!"
So it was like those collars that shock a dog to stop it from barking.
"Uuuu..."
Chae Hwa-ra's shoulders drooped as she sighed.
Maybe because they had no contact outside the party, he'd never seen her looking so deflated before.
'Sss... It's kind of pitiful.'
Hye-yong was human too, so he felt sympathy.
He might not care about other characters, but didn't he owe it to at least these three—whose lives got wrecked because he created them—to look after them?
'Well, Han Geon-hu will manage on his own just fine.'
Hye-yong decided to make a buff on his Buff Page 6.
[ Electrostatic Field ]
Grants the ability to handle electric-type abilities
Electric Ability Level 1
Unaware that a blessing has been applied
Exclusive to Chae Hwa-ra
'Hmm... this feels a bit ambiguous.'
He didn't know exactly how to phrase it to let her use electric powers.
He could imagine it in his head, but...
'The exact wording isn't what matters anyway. What matters is my imagination.'
Even if he wrote the nuance roughly, the buff's form would become whatever Hye-yong imagined.
'Chae Ha-ri, was it?'
Hye-yong imagined the exact form that Chae Hwa-ra's sister had shown and created the buff.
Once he applied this to Chae Hwa-ra, it seemed like she'd at least be able to use the ability.
'Of course, the ability will disappear when the buff disappears...'
Still, if Chae Hwa-ra had the same blood as her sister, wouldn't she be able to get a feel for it just by using the electric ability for a while?
'I can't really think of any other way to help her.'
If the buff could serve as a catalyst, that'd be great. If not, well, it couldn't be helped.
First, he applied the newly made buff to Chae Hwa-ra.
"Huh? Something like electricity is crackling around you."
"Ah, it's still there!?"
"No, not that. It's like... what your sister was emitting."
After applying the buff, he nudged her into action with his words.
"Maybe the stimulation triggered your ability to manifest earlier. Try using it."
"D-do you think so...?"
Chae Hwa-ra stopped walking, focused her gaze, and stretched her hand forward.
Crack!
"Oh!"
A faint but unmistakable trace of electricity shot out from Chae Hwa-ra's hand.
As if she couldn't believe it, Chae Hwa-ra stared at her fingertips for nearly ten whole seconds before focusing her eyes again.
Crack!
"Oh, whoa...!"
She marveled, realizing it wasn't a hallucination.
Then, like her usual self, she grinned and lowered her voice.
"Hahaha! Has the seal on this body finally been unsealed!? 'That Person's' guidance..."
Bzzzt!
"GYAK!"
Pshoo.
"...has opened a new path for me."
She looked so happy that even after getting zapped by the spark her sister left behind, Chae Hwa-ra still grinned.
'So in this case, I'm 'That Person'.'
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
"This is awesome!"
She discharged the electricity several times and then let out a shout of joy.
Seeing her so happy, it already pained him to think about taking the buff away.
'I have to hope she realizes it through this.'
But in this case, it didn't seem completely impossible.
If he chalked up her inability to manifest an ability until now to the settings she'd been stuck with,
now she wouldn't be blocked by the wall of probability, so she could grow into it sufficiently.
'Right. Since it was never utilized at all, she simply forgot how to bring the ability out.'
If he kept gently stimulating the ability with a buff that let her use a similar power, it might wake up and burst out one day.
He had to hope for the best.
'Leaving aside affection stats or whatever, it just makes me feel better that way.'
And from Hye-yong's perspective, having her with the ability was better anyway.
He could earn greater affection points by amplifying her ability.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
"Woo-ha!"
Chae Hwa-ra seemed extremely thirsty for the ability, regardless of anything else.
Somehow, he suddenly felt like snatching it away from her once.
Dispel!
"Hweh?"
Chae Hwa-ra panicked as her ability suddenly stopped working.
"Wh-what happened?"
He applied the buff again.
Crack!
"A-as expected...!"
And dispelled it.
"Eeeeh...?"
Ah, seriously.
Wasn't this just way too cute?
The feeling right now was exactly like that.
Like those YouTube videos where people set up transparent walls with plastic wrap or tape in places animals pass through and just watch them.
It felt like he was watching someone crash into it and then look around, unable to grasp the situation.
Hye-yong wanted to turn around and snicker, but he desperately held back his laughter.
"Wh-why won't it come out...!?"
"Maybe it's unstable because it just manifested? I read about it in a book. In cases like this, you have to keep practicing and try to get it to manifest properly."
"Ohh... I see!!"
Chae Hwa-ra exclaimed in admiration at his words.
"You're a truly reliable fellow! I express my gratitude!!"
"Nah, it's nothing between friends."
"F-friends...?"
Chae Hwa-ra's face showed a hint of embarrassment at hearing that.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"N-no. It's just... it feels like it's been a really long time since I heard the word 'friends'."
Well, that's because you...
'Well... Chae Hwa-ra must have her own reasons for doing that concept act.'
She would've been a better person if she didn't do it, though.
[ Electrostatic Field ]
Grants the ability to handle electric-type abilities
Electric Ability Level 1
Unaware that a blessing has been applied
Exclusive to Chae Hwa-ra
Duration: 10 seconds
Cooldown: 10 seconds
500 Renewals
'Good. This way it'll act as a stimulus as the ability flickers on and off, right?'
Of course, just because her sister had talent didn't mean Hwa-ra automatically had it too.
The odds of it not working were a little higher than it working.
'If it doesn't work, well—maybe I can make it into a growth buff for her later.'
A growth buff that manifests a new ability?
It might be impossible right now, but it would definitely become possible later.
After all, it was a god-given ability.
Still, he wanted everyone to do well, so he planned to do everything he could to help.
Hye-yong drastically increased the range of the buff he'd applied to Chae Hwa-ra, slapped on a bunch of extra functions, and then decided to say goodbye.
"Well, see you tomorrow, Hwa-ra."
"Alright! Get home safely!"
Crack!
Even after Hye-yong had left, Chae Hwa-ra continued heading toward her dormitory, emitting sparks of electricity.