Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Sodomora's Morning Star Hassan #4
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“Burp—.”
Daphne blushed along with the small burp. She looked at me as if she had no idea what had just happened.
“W-What was that? What just happened?”
It seemed Daphne was puzzled by the sudden relief from her indigestion. I hid my initial panic and answered calmly.
“There are channels in the human body where vital energy passes through. Stimulating those points gets the blocked blood flowing, invigorating the whole body.”
“Vital energy? Like mana?”
Vital energy like mana? I had no idea. Truth be told, I’d never felt this qi that supposedly flows through the body, nor the mana people in this world sense.
They were both mysteries to me, so maybe they shared similar properties and were essentially the same thing? Even I thought it sounded like miracle logic, but alternative medicine was half persuasion anyway.
“You can think of it that way. It might even be the same.”
Just in case, I kept it vague to leave room for escape.
“Manipulating mana counts as healing… It’s not some illegal treatment, is it?”
Her question sent a barrage of imaginary bricks flying at my head. Damn, I wasn’t keen on getting stoned at a brick festival.
“N-No, it’s just a massage, that’s all. Massages are fine, right?”
“Hmm, fair enough. It was a weird massage, though. Felt strange midway—I nearly slapped you. Good thing I held back.”
“P-Please be a bit more tolerant with me from now on.”
“Wow, but it really is amazing. My stomach feels so refreshed. What was that? It’s totally clear now. That spot you pressed. Can I do it myself? My stomach bothers me often—knowing a trick like that would be perfect.”
The guild had quieted down as the sun set, so our conversation dragged on.
I was waiting for Luna anyway, whom I’d agreed to meet here, and had nothing else to do. Eager to pry more info on things I didn’t know or helpful tips, I nodded along with Daphne’s words.
“Like this, pressing here?”
Daphne prodded the spot I’d pressed with her finger. She used her right hand to firmly squeeze the fleshy part of her left hand.
“Yeah, it does hurt.”
Actually, the Hegu point was easy for anyone to stimulate with their opposite hand, so even massage beginners knew it well. I racked my brain, recalling the anatomy charts and old-fashioned diagrams from my father’s study.
Damn, I wasn’t interested back then, and it was too long ago—the memories wouldn’t come clearly. Should’ve crammed them all in my head.
“Ahem. For bloating in the pit of your stomach or mild indigestion, press there. If that doesn’t work or your lower abdomen feels heavy and painful, you need another spot.”
“Another one? There’s more?”
“It’s on the top of your foot.”
“F-Foot?”
At the word “foot,” Daphne tensed up again, eyeing me suspiciously. In this world, people guarded their soles like secret intimate areas.
Though maybe a tad less so than those.
“Y-You’re saying you want to touch my feet now?”
“No, I didn’t say that. I just mentioned it exists. But it’s really effective.”
“Effective, huh…”
She glanced at me, biting her lower lip. Then she scanned the quiet guild lobby and her chattering receptionist colleagues before standing up smoothly.
“Mr. Hassan. This way.”
She grabbed my arm and started leading me somewhere.
“W-Where are you taking me?”
“Shh, be quiet. It has to be a secret.”
Caught off guard, I followed meekly. She wasn’t kidnapping me or dragging me to thugs with clubs to beat me senseless, probably.
Soon, Daphne led me to a warehouse-like room stacked with dusty scrolls. A document archive or something? Not important anyway.
“Mr. Hassan. Can you promise to keep it a secret?”
“W-What?”
“T-Touching my feet. If word gets out, I’ll never get married. Or will you take responsibility for me?”
Take responsibility? Out of nowhere? Her green hair was comical, and Daphne’s hyper-acceleration was a bit overwhelming.
Still, she was a charming beauty with stalkers trailing her.
Hearing that in this cramped space from such a woman made my junk swell involuntarily. Damn, junk’s been popping up too often lately.
“Of course I’m kidding. I’m not some pure Kore girl. I don’t want to lure guys with that. Anyway, just keep it secret.”
Sharing a secret intimacy with a woman. Thrilling, no doubt. The guilty thrill of doing something naughty amped up the excitement.
“O-Okay.”
“Swear it. Swear on the River Styx to keep everything from now on secret.”
D-Damn, that? Relive that hellish stomach pain? Hard pass.
“T-That’s a bit…”
“No? Then I’ll scream. Know what happens if I scream now?”
She undid a few buttons on her prim uniform.
“If they catch us like this, you’re done for.”
“D-Damn… Go easy on me.”
“Then promise. Say you swear on the River Styx.”
“F-Fine. I swear.”
“Good.”
Daphne smiled satisfied at last. I worried that damn status effect might pop up again, but thankfully, no text appeared before my eyes.
Swearing on the Styx didn’t always trigger status effects. Conditions, maybe?
“A-Anyway…”
Smoothly, slowly.
Daphne perched on the scroll pile like a chair and began removing her sandals.
Soon, her small, white ankle was exposed before me. A classic Greek foot, where the second toe was longer than the big toe. Size around 230? No clue.
“I-It’s embarrassing, so hurry and press it. Can’t stay away too long.”
She extended her foot toward me smoothly.
Her skirt-style uniform revealed smooth white legs and slender ankles. After wearing shoes all day, her slightly sweaty foot had a moist sheen.
I knelt on one knee before her, gently cradling her sole.
Compared to my rough palm, her sole was baby-soft and supple. Did people in this world pamper hidden feet more than their visible hands?
Sniff, sniff.
Faint sweat scent. Hyperhidrosis, she said? Not overpowering—just human enough to ignore.
“Then I’ll press the Taichong point.”
I gripped her right foot and pressed my thumb firmly into the top, about 2 cm above where the big and second toes diverged.
Precisely, where they began to separate on the instep.
That was Taichong. A key point in meridian massage, called the cure for all ills for its potency.
You might wonder why I hyped every point as crucial.
Damn, most acupoints were like that. None were unimportant. That’s why I didn’t trust alternative medicine. Anyway.
Press—.
“This might hurt a bit.”
Taichong hurt even without issues. But with bloating or stagnant energy, it ached tremendously.
“Mm… Y-Yeah, it hurts…”
Press. Press.
I kept stimulating the soft sole and upper Taichong with my thumb. Ten more seconds should do.
“Hurts, but… it’s so refreshing. F-Feels good. W-What is this? First time. Ah… Mm… Ah…”
A woman moaning in pain-pleasure duality was quite the sight. Even knowing it was massage, blood rushed to my junk.
This world’s feet were quasi-erogenous zones anyway. Permission to touch was explosive enough.
“Eut… Ha… Mmm…”
“Stop now?”
“N-No… J-Just a bit more. Something tingling… G-Good. Yes, Mr. Hassan… H-Harder. Ha…”
In the cramped room, pressing her foot, hearing her moans. The excitement made sweat bead on my hands.
Or maybe from her foot. Either way, my hands and her foot were slick and slippery now.
“Eut… M-Mr. Hassan. J-Just a bit more, harder please. Eut, aa… Ang… Something electric…!”
Harder? I was already using strong force.
Harder might harm the instep. Force wasn’t always better.
“H-Hurry, quick, j-just more… A-Ah, y-yes, like that, ha, haa!!”
But upsetting her risked unknown consequences, so I pressed as hard as she wanted. Thumb like a press crushing her sole.
“Ah, ang, ah, s-something, something big… A-Ah, aaaah! Haa!!”
Her toes stretched toward me, clenched hard, body arching like a bow. She slid off the scrolls, twitching on the floor.
“Haut, mm. Mmmph!”
Twitch, twitch.
Daphne bounced her hips like rubber bands, convulsing helplessly. Then text appeared before me.
Ding—.
『Healed Daphne's Hyperhidrosis.』
『Karma Value +10』
『Current Karma Value: +57』
Oh, Karma Value passed half of 100 at 50+. Not just red dots—other presses could trigger it too.
Anyway, quite the beneficial experience for me—then.
“Mr. Hassan… I… Hn, mmph…”
Still trembling in the afterglow, Daphne lay on the scrolls, gazing intently at my face.
Her green eyes misty with emotion.
Panting neck trailed sweat beads; slightly unbuttoned top revealed prominent collarbones and swelling cleavage.
She parted her red lips, sighing huskily.
“I, mm, hn… Mr. Hassan… A-Amazing experience.”
“Y-Yes. Glad you’re satisfied.”
“N-Next time too—”
Then.
Knock knock—.
We jolted at the knock on the document-filled storeroom door.
"Hey, Daphne. You in there? It’s not quitting time—how can you leave the counter empty? Your client’s here. Luna. The one with pink hair in twin braids. The Kore-looking girl."
“Uh, yeah! I’m here! Looking for something! Organizing! Found it!”
Come out quick then.
Daphne yelled back, hastily fixing herself. “Mr. Hassan, come out a bit later. Avoid misunderstandings—” she whispered, then dashed out.
Left alone in the storeroom, I wondered what the hell just happened.
Recalling briefly what I’d done, I held my palm to my face and sniffed twice.
Sniff, sniff.
Surprisingly, no smell from my palm. After a minute or two listening for movement outside.
Sensing no one in the hall, I cracked the door to sneak out stealthily—
“What’re you doing here, Hassan.”
My eyes met emerald ones waiting in the corridor, sending chills down my spine for no reason.
“L-Luna. H-How’d you get here?”
“We’re eating dinner together, remember? More importantly, why’re you sweating so much? Something happen?”
She sniffed me—sniff sniff. Goosebumps hit; I shoved her cheek with my palm.
“Hey, why sniff me suddenly…!”
“Gak—. It’s fine, I like your smell, Hassan. …But it’s different from usual. Familiar scent. Sniffed it recently too…”
Sniff sniff, sniff sniff—.
Luna kept shoving her face close to sniff. Her nose was sharper than expected; she might catch Daphne’s scent on me.
Why was I scared of that? No idea, but it felt like getting caught red-handed.
“M-Musty scrolls probably. Tons of moldy old ones inside.”
“Scrolls…”
She muttered “scrolls,” eyes narrowing, brows furrowing sharply.
“W-What? Why that face?”
“Scrolls!”
She thrust a red-wax-sealed scroll at me.
“W-What’s this?”
“A scroll!”
Yeah, what kind of scroll?