Crude Oil Extraction
"But you know, I think I get why they never experimented with collecting magical energy remotely in the demon realm. The efficiency is just way too low."
It was true. In the demon realm, there was no need to insert clauses into contracts like 'the magical energy derived from the relationship shall belong to Charle.' Why bother collecting magical energy from a distance?
They could just visit someone in a dream and suck out their magical energy. Or they could just have sex directly. The difference in efficiency was a hundredfold.
Thanks to that, remote magical energy collection remained an untapped market in the demon realm. In fact, because it was deemed worthless, it was like an abandoned, depleted mine.
But things were different in the human world.
Unlike the Akashic Records, the human world possessed the internet—which everyone could access equally—as well as cheap recording equipment and platforms like Pornhub.
And then there was the third clause of the contract that Kim Kangmin had discovered.
Even Charle hadn't known what the third clause meant, having simply copied it from a standard contract. But thanks to Kim Kangmin uncovering it, a path had opened wide.
To think that forming a contract allowed them to collect magical energy remotely!
'Wow... Haven't I grabbed hold of some incredible luck?' Charle was likely the very first succubus to think of uploading videos to Pornhub. And she was the first succubus to figure out a way to harvest the magical energy generated from them.
Wasn't this like striking a massive gold mine? Filled with anticipation, Charle tightly gripped Kim Kangmin's hand.
Ever since crossing through the gate, every single day had been overflowing with hope because of Kim Kangmin.
"Yerim. My heart is racing. We can do alchemy, and there's transformation too. I'm really looking forward to it."
"Me too. Ah, once the magical energy piles up, what should we try first?"
Charle and Kim Kangmin held hands and walked like a couple. The two were currently sharing the same dream.
What should they do once they gathered enough magical energy? Should they try making gold? Or should she transform into a celebrity and go on a date with him?
The two walked home, smiling.
They hadn't yet figured out how to attach the contract to Pornhub, but finding a way to obtain magical energy was already a massive harvest.
It was just like discovering a vast underground oil reserve. Now, all they had to do was find a way to extract it...!
"Yerim, what do you think about a contract like this?"
As I was walking excitedly, a good idea popped into my head, so I asked.
"What kind of contract?"
"What if we make a contract where the people who watch your videos give you all the magical energy they produce from then on? Humans can't use magical energy anyway. If we do that, we'll rake in an astronomical amount of magical energy—"
As she listened to me ramble, Lee Yerim let go of my hand. Then, she shook her head.
"Kangmin, no. Not that."
As she spoke, Lee Yerim's—no, Charle's—demeanor was surprisingly firm. It was entirely different from how she usually walked on eggshells around me.
A cold gaze. A voice as chilling as ice. Dark eyes that Lee Yerim would never normally show. Startled, I stared at Charle. Her mouth opened.
"Every contract... must be made between fair values. What you're proposing is theft. It's like giving glass beads to people who don't know their worth and taking their gold. If you make contracts recklessly like that, it leaves scars on your relationships, your soul, and your future life."
Charle's eyes looked sorrowful.
"That's exactly why the gates to the demon realm closed. After handing out reckless contracts and inflicting immense suffering on humans, people gradually stopped believing in demons. The number of humans giving up their magical energy dwindled, and the gates shut close."
"They say the demon realm used to be a prosperous, vibrant, and happy place back when it interacted with humans. A place where you could eat meat soup every evening, light a candle late at night to read a book, and bake cookies with leftover flour and sugar. It's a story my grandmother's grandmother told me, but it sounds like a dream, doesn't it?"
Lee Yerim placed her hand over her chest. It seemed that hearing about a lavish life she had only ever known through stories pained her heart.
"Now, just to survive, succubi are made to give people dreams in brothels starting from the age of eight. By twelve, they sell their bodies. It's miserable, dark, and impoverished. Especially for those living at the very bottom."
"Demons living such agonizing lives still talk about the old days. The days when they could steal souls for a cheap price, inflating their own lives by profiting off human suffering. They swallow hard thinking about it. They're just waiting for the human world's doors to open, thinking of nothing but stealing souls all over again."
Charle's eyes grew sharp like a cat's. Her brow furrowed, and lines formed on the bridge of her nose.
"I absolutely loathed those bastards. It's not like their true nature goes anywhere. Since they couldn't steal from humans, they squeezed people as poor as us. On days when I starved despite working, I always thought to myself: I won't deceive humans. I will make sure to trade with fair compensation. That way, I'll never let the gates be closed again."
Realizing she had rambled too much on her own, Charle's shoulders suddenly slumped.
"I'm sorry. I know you just threw it out there, but it brought back memories of the past. So, that proposal is rejected. Only the magical energy born from the desire released while watching my videos. Fairly. That's all."
"...No, I'm the one who spoke too thoughtlessly."
Stories of her past back in the demon realm. I felt like I had caught a glimpse of a side of Charle I didn't know.
Wow, life in the demon realm must have been really tough...
But if she was all about fair contracts, why did my contract feel so incredibly favorable? I cracked a joke to lighten the mood.
"You say it's a fair contract, but aren't you being a bit too soft on me?"
At that, Lee Yerim smiled bitterly under the moonlight.
"Haha. I guess I am with you. Why is that?"
Lee Yerim scratched her cheek. She looked a bit sad too. Hmm, what was this? Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
Does Charle... like me?
Hmm... Dating a demon? I had never thought about it. Wouldn't I actually get burned at the stake if I did?
And even without dating, she already did everything for me... But if I could really date Lee Yerim and live with Charle at the same time.
While meeting up with Jeon Yeongseon around twice a week.
It was closer to a dreamlike delusion. As I stood there spacing out, Lee Yerim nudged me.
"Kangmin, let's go home now. I want to eat. My stomach feels greasy after eating nothing but sweets."
Yikes. Right. Let's not think about this right now.
It wasn't like Charle had asked me to go out with her, so let's not get ahead of myself with assumptions. If she really wanted to, she would bring it up someday.
"What do you want to eat?"
As we walked through the food alley, Lee Yerim looked around at the shops, her nose twitching. Hearing about her past made me want to buy her something even more delicious.
"What's this?"
Ah, GGgo. The smell of this place really is something else.
"It's stir-fried rice with octopus, cabbage, and sauce. It's really good, want some?"
"Octopus? That creepy creature with eight legs? Good heavens, how can anyone eat that?"
Apparently, the place she came from lacked an ocean culture, because Lee Yerim's brow furrowed the moment she heard the word 'octopus'. The owner, who had been watching our banter, chimed in.
"It's not octopus, it's squid. How could I use octopus when it's so expensive?"
"Squid?"
Lee Yerim searched through the dictionary in her mind.
However, squid must not have been in the knowledge granted by the gate, because she merely pouted. She wavered back and forth as she sniffed the aroma.
"I don't know..."
Seeing this, the owner scooped some of the rice he was stir-frying into a paper cup and handed it over.
If a normal couple had been doing this, he probably would have told them to stop disrupting his business and get lost, but Lee Yerim's beauty was truly something people couldn't resist doing favors for.
"Would you like to try a bite?"
Lee Yerim took the cup and looked at it with a suspicious gaze before taking a spoonful.
Even so, she pushed away the white pieces of squid as much as possible, leaving only a single tiny shred. Even though squid is perfectly chewy and delicious.
"Um, thank you for the food."
And then, one bite.
She chewed warily, testing the flavor, before her large eyes grew even wider.
"Mmm! It's delicious! Kangmin, buy this for me!"
"Alright. Excuse me, give us two large sizes of this, please. Make mine the stir-fried noodles."
"Coming right up!"
Even while cooking, the owner kept stealing glances at Lee Yerim, seemingly envious of her beauty.
Meanwhile, I dropped by the shop next door, ordered two bubble teas, and came back.
"Ugh, what is that? Frog eggs? Salamander eggs?"
Seeing what was in my hand, Lee Yerim grimaced again. This kind of reaction was incredibly amusing. Pretending not to notice, I took a long sip through the straw.
Lee Yerim freaked out as she watched the black spheres travel up the straw.
"Eww, gross! What is it?"
"They really are frog eggs. But they're preserved in sugar, so they're super sweet."
"Auuugh, you're crazy! Why would you eat something like that?!"
Horrified, Lee Yerim slammed down the bubble tea she was holding. At that, the owner stir-frying the rice chuckled.
"It's bubble tea. It's similar to rice cakes. Your boyfriend is quite a prankster. Did you live abroad?"
Looking at Lee Yerim's behavior, she seemed a bit simple-minded, but her beauty excused everything.
Lee Yerim glanced at me and picked up her cup again.
"I knew it all along, I was just playing along."
And then her eyes sparkled again! She seemed to really like the bubble tea.
Hmm, doing this felt nice.
"Yerim, don't use your hands. Try balancing it on your chest."
When I took the bubble tea cup and placed it on her chest, it rested there flawlessly.
Watching the cup sitting on those soft curves made me feel like my lifespan was extending. Lee Yerim effortlessly drank the bubble tea just like that.
Hey, mister shopkeeper.
The rice is burning. Stop staring. Though, granted, I only asked her to do it because I wanted to show her off.
The two of us sat on the shop's bench, happily ate our cup rice, and returned home.
Lee Yerim showered first, and then I showered. Doing this made having sex with Jeon Yeongseon feel like a total dream.
In the evening, I had taken Jeon Yeongseon's anal virginity, and now that I was out, I was about to have sex with Lee Yerim... Just thinking about it made my cock stand erect. I was truly happy.
Drying my hair as I walked out, Lee Yerim slightly lifted the blanket and called out to me.
"Kangmin, come in here."
Seeing that smile truly warmed my heart.
The moment I slid under the blanket, Lee Yerim wrapped her entire body around me. But the sensation felt strange.
Lee Yerim wasn't wearing anything.
She had been waiting for me completely naked under the covers.