Pheromones? Ventilation Urgently Needed
"If you satisfy your big sis, maybe I'll let you go?" Hong Yeonhwa leans in close, her breath washing over him in a hot puff. Sweet breath spills from her red lips, enveloping Siu's face. A thick rose scent. The moment he inhales it, his head rings like a bell, vision blurring.
What the...? Not your average perfume. A strange sensation. Thump— It numbs his frontal lobe, scrambling his reason—an artificial 'chemical attack'.
Siu holds his breath on reflex, fumbling in his pocket. His fingers close around a finger-length [Analytical Reagent Film]. With trembling hands, he slots it into the right lens of his glasses.
"Wait, mmph... stay back."
"Aw, getting shy? Look at that blush."
Yeonhwa presses closer, amused, but Siu's eyes are glued not to her cleavage but to the data overlaying his lens.
Chzzzt. The film reacts with the lens, a red grid flooding his vision.
Analyzing components...
Detection: High-concentration Pheromones (Charm) + Mana Activator.
Warning: 800% over safe limits. Prolonged exposure risks neural disruption.
"...Holy shit."
Siu lets out a hollow laugh, pinching his nose shut. He stumbles back, waving her off.
"Whoa, what perfume is that? Way too much musk and mana concentrate in the base notes. You know spraying that in 80% humidity turns it into basically chemical tear gas, right?"
"...What?"
Yeonhwa's sultry expression freezes. Her absolute charm just got called tear gas by a glasses-wearing convenience store clerk.
"Give me some space to ventilate. I've got rhinitis—can't breathe."
Siu fans the air desperately, dead serious. The S-rank hunter's eyebrow twitches at having her allure logically dismantled.
"You're fun... First guy to call my scent gross."
The playfulness vanishes from Yeonhwa's eyes. A flame flickers to life at her fingertip—tiny, cute, like a lighter. It looks harmless, just a beauty playing with fire.
But Siu knows instinctively. This isn't mental warfare anymore. It's real physical threat.
He yanks out the spent reagent film, swapping in a fresh [Mana Analysis Film]. His hands shake faintly. That one-second swap feels like a year.
Please, focus.
Chzzzt. The lens reactivates.
Warning: Spectrum camouflage detected.
True nature: High-density white flame. Core temperature exceeds 1,600°C.
"Fuck..."
A curse slips from Siu's lips. That's no average hunter's fire spell. The heat warps the air even from afar, sweat beading on his skin just looking at it.
She's gonna shoot that at me...? Is she insane?
She hums casually, extending the tiny flame like it's nothing. But really, it's mana compressed to plasma extremes, disguised small. Charge it bare-eyed, and you'd vaporize—no bones left.
Siu's eyes bloodshot. Analysis complete. Time for a solution.
Problem: He has no instant-cast skills.
"Talk a pretty game—let's see if your skills match."
Yeonhwa smiles with her eyes, slowly thrusting the flame forward. Cold sweat drips as Siu reaches for the ice cream freezer beside the counter. An [Ice Cup (L-size)] and a tub of [Coarse Salt] from the shelf.
No time. Mix it fast—faster!
He flips open his notebook, grabs a pen. Good thing Yeonhwa watches curiously, flame at the ready—if she'd attacked, he'd be charcoal.
Scratch, scratch, scratch! The pen scrapes paper harshly in the silent store.
Designing algorithm...
- Variable A (water) + Variable B (salt) → Absorb latent heat of fusion
- Acceleration: Apply entropy reversal formula
The longer the formula, the more sweat beads on Siu's forehead. Just mixing ingredients won't make magic. He needs a perfect logical narrative to draw out their properties for the scroll to activate.
"How long you gonna scribble? I hate waiting."
Yeonhwa flicks her hand impatiently. The flame dances.
"Just finished—here!"
Siu dots the final period, rips the page, slaps it on the ice cup. Faint mana ignites the paper, manifesting the phenomenon.
"No open flames indoors. Catch!"
C-Rank Rapid Cooling: Swamp of Thermodynamics
Siu hurls the ice cup at her flame.
Whoosh—!Szzzzzz!
The 1,600°C blaze hits the cup—not exploding, but evaporating into pathetic steam. Siu's endothermic formula devours all nearby heat.
"...Ha?"
A hollow laugh escapes Yeonhwa. Not mana suppression—raw thermal energy calculated and erased.
"That scrap in your glasses, that notebook... You're no ordinary glasses nerd."
Her eyes narrow. But Siu has no breath for reply. Brain-squeeze exhaustion makes his legs buckle.
Ugh, one more fire trick and I'm dead... How do I chase off this psycho?
Then—
Crash!!
His worries shatter as a new problem barges in. A monster invasion.
Reinforced glass shatters, a foul beast-stink flooding in.
"Grrrrowl...!"
Green-skinned brute: a [Goblin Champion (C-rank)].
Siu's already pale face goes ghostly white. Fuck—why's today so rough?
Pheromones and flames he countered with science, but a physical brute? One club graze pulverizes an F-rank body.
"Tch, ruining the mood. Rat shows up? Break time started?"
Yeonhwa raises her hand irritably, but Siu yells.
"No! Fire magic here burns the whole store! I'll handle it!"
"What? You can barely stand."
Siu chugs a [High-Caffeine Energy Drink] from the shelf instead of answering. Gulp. Heart pounds like it'll burst, brain vessels dilate.
Forced [Thought Acceleration] via drugs. But time's critically short. Goblin closes in.
Ingredients, formula design, inscription, activation... Minimum 5 seconds. Distance: 3 meters.
Too late. Straight method won't cut it.
Siu's bloodshot eyes scan the store through lens data overlays.
Spot: Microwave in the corner.
Use existing machinery. Minimize formula!
He dives, snatching butane gas and foil balls. The goblin's club swings for his skull.
"Kieeeek!"
Whoosh—! Boom!
It misses by a hair, smashing shelves.
"Aaaah!"
Siu crawls, flings open the microwave, stuffs in materials. Rips a pre-scribbled [Amplification] scrap from his notebook corner, slaps it on the timer.
Instant Modification: Microwave Directed Emission
Target: Forward 2m, high-water-content object. Goblin's head.
"Kyakya!" The goblin lunges.
"Die, please!"
Siu spins the timer, dives behind the counter.
"Get down!"
Weeeeen— Boom!!
High-pitched whine, then the microwave blasts like a beam cannon. Amplified microwaves nail the goblin's head.
"Guek?!" Splut!
Watermelon-burst sound. Goblin crumples.
Not Yeonhwa's fire level, but shelves are wrecked.
"Hah, hah... Fuck. How do I explain to the boss—?!"
Siu slumps against the wall. Film in glasses burned out to ash from overload. Nosebleed drips from overtaxed brain.
No easy win. Prepared, calculated, risked life on perfect timing—for pathetic survival.
"My."
Yeonhwa approaches. More thrilled by bloodied, panting Siu than the monster.
Not just smart head. Judgment, execution spot-on. Maps paths, carves his body to finish formulas...
She closes in, dabs his nosebleed tenderly with her designer dress sleeve.
"H-Hey, you'll ruin your dress—mmph?!"
Yeonhwa yanks his collar, steals a kiss. Smooch. Hot surge—a red flower pattern etches his wrist.
Warning: Forced Marking by High-Rank Hunter.
"Mine now, babe."
Yeonhwa grins sultrily at dazed Siu.
"Don't run. Wherever you calculate and scheme, sis'll find you."
Whoosh. She vanishes in red smoke. Siu collapses spread-eagle on the floor.
"...Hah, for real."
He laughs emptily at the wrist mark and ashen film bits. For minimum-wage clerking, one hell of a brutal night.