On the Contrary, I Like It
"...A familiar ceiling."
It wasn't, actually. My familiar ceiling had become the stars in the sky. It was just a vain hope that if I opened my eyes like this, yesterday's events might turn out to have been a dream. And sure enough, my house blowing up wasn't a dream.
The place where I'd opened my eyes wasn't a sprawling penthouse but a tiny studio apartment barely 50 square feet.
"Fuck..."
I grabbed my throbbing head and sat up in bed. The fridge was right in front of the bed, so I could grab a bottle of water without even standing—a pathetically convenient feature. The cold water eased the headache. My mind cleared up.
With that clarity, I decided to recap yesterday's chaos.
First, I'd taken Ia Ris home, used the excuse that I had to drop Ska Rate off at her place and eat dinner together before clocking out to head to the guild dorms, and slipped away. I knew where Ska's place was, so I'd Rabbit Hole'd straight there, tucked her into bed, then returned to the guild and asked the guild master for an empty room.
The reason an F-rank awakener like me could waltz into the guild master's office like it was my own home? He'd begged me to. More precisely, if something happened to me that he could fix with his authority, he'd pleaded with me to rely on him. Except for woman troubles.
The guild master had an extreme fear of anything happening to me. Probably because two years ago, when I'd been forcibly kicked out, Ska's rampage had burned the entire guild headquarters to the ground.
They'd rebuilt bigger and sturdier with compensation from the Rate family, but the scars of that destruction lingered as trauma in the guild master's mind and heart. Because of it, the head of the world's top guild, Liar's Trap, ended up groveling pathetically to an F-rank like me.
Once, when I'd casually mentioned wanting to quit during a consultation, he'd nearly dropped to his knees begging me to reconsider... A middle-aged guy that age kneeling to me was too sad, so I'd stopped him right away and promised not to leave.
This might make it sound like a one-sided boss-subordinate dynamic, but I occasionally did dog-level work keeping Ska from rampaging again at his request, so we were equals.
Besides, I had no desire to abuse that power petty-like. I'd been bossed around endlessly by Ska since childhood, and after joining the guild, every S-rank except Ia Ris had treated me like dirt. It made me hate power trips. A reverse lesson, you could say.
Anyway, when I'd asked the guild master, all the good rooms were full—only the tiniest intern dorm left—so I'd ended up here. He could've used his authority to evict someone, but as I said, power trips were a hard no.
After registering for temporary residence, it was midnight. The day had been so packed with high-density drama that I'd crashed into bed and blacked out. And now I'd woken up.
"......Fuck."
It was the kind of situation that made cursing inevitable.
Ska, that self-proclaimed rabid bitch who adored me beyond reason, and Ia Ris, who was actually the crazy one obsessed with owning me. Did that even make sense?
"Hoo... It makes sense because it happened. No more wasting time denying reality. Time to figure out what to do next."
No time left to waste. Now that I knew those two harbored dangerously intense feelings for me, I couldn't keep acting like before.
Provoke women who casually vaporize billion-dollar homes over feeling ignored, and who knew what they'd do next.
But even as I pondered, no good solutions came to mind. Considering Ia Ris and Ska's personalities, the crocodile tears ploy was just a stopgap. They wouldn't stay satisfied with childish hugs and pats forever. Maybe two or three times at best. After that, they'd demand closer, stickier intimacy—the kind only lovers could share.
Purposely acting disgraceful to turn them off? Nah, they were crazies. If they caught on to me trying to distance myself halfway, God knows what they'd do.
Becoming lovers with one? Hell no. They were already melting and smashing homes without even dating. Imagine the chains if we did. Ska would lock me in her house forever; Ia Ris would display me like one of her luxury collectibles on a shelf. Considering her hoard of extravagances never seen by the world, it was all too plausible.
"...In the end, I need to satisfy their bottomless greed while keeping enough distance to avoid becoming lovers. That's how I survive..."
No matter how I racked my brain, nothing satisfied both conditions.
"Wait, is this even possible? Without something like a hypnosis app, it's straight-up impossible... Huh?"
Hypnosis app?
The name I'd momentarily forgotten hit me. I immediately unlocked my phone and launched the hypnosis app.
The familiar purple glow and pink hearts alternated, cheap slogans grabbing my eyes. Since learning it was fake, just looking at it pissed me off—but right now, it looked like a lifeline.
"...If I play this right, I might satisfy them and save my own skin."
This hypnosis app was definitely fake. No effect whatsoever; seeing it didn't hypnotize anyone.
But between me and Liar's Trap's female S-rank awakeners, it was as good as real.
Now that I knew two S-ranks liked me, I could guess its purpose.
"Probably made to keep me in Liar's Trap willingly while closing the distance through the app. Back then, I was always talking about quitting."
I'd gotten the app from Dr. Emme half a year ago, during my rock-bottom days. I hadn't hid my stress, so Ska or Ia Ris must've noticed and commissioned her to make something to hold onto me.
Dr. Emme, knowing my main stressors were the female S-ranks, created the app to solve that while fulfilling Ska and Ia Ris's desires.
"Just a hunch, but it fits perfectly. Am I a genius?"
That explained the female S-ranks' acting hypnotized too.
...Wait, hold up.
Even if two S-ranks teamed up, could they recruit all the guild's female S-ranks? Besides Ska Rate, Ia Ris, and Lapis Julie, there was one more.
No reason for the other two to play along just to keep me from quitting. S-ranks could have anything they wanted. Why humiliate themselves pretending to be hypnotized for an F-rank like me? No money or fame shortages.
Unless... they were obsessed with me too.
Chills ran down my spine. I wanted to deny it, but with Ska and Ia Ris already confirmed, my hunch wasn't impossible.
"N-No way... Those two are obsessed with me too?"
Back when I'd first used the fake app on the S-ranks except Ia Ris, I'd ordered them to give me their best service. They'd done it with genuine bliss, faces like dreams come true—not acting.
"And that was real? They were that happy to serve me, to get close?"
This was fucked. Beyond fucked.
Again, every S-rank except Ia Ris had treated me like shit, like I owed them blood. Yet they were obsessed? Happy to obey my commands under fake hypnosis?
"Haa... This can't be real. Can't just run now anyway."
My billion-dollar home was gone, loan unpaid. Ia Ris covered repairs, but if I vanished, all debts would crush me. Assets seized, account in the red.
Four S-rank women hunting me, plus bank recovery awakeners? Even Rabbit Hole couldn't outrun that forever. I could teleport to the other side of the planet, but stamina wasn't infinite.
"At least... until repairs finish and I pay off the loan, I have to stay in the guild."
Small mercy: Joining the S-rank dungeon raid in three months would cover the loan.
"If I hold out till then... I can survive. With money, Rabbit Hole gets me away from those bitches."
I stared at the running hypnosis app. Everyone knew it was fake—me, Dr. Emme, the S-rank bitches—but they didn't know I knew.
That info gap was my weapon. The one to keep me alive three months.
For the next three months, use the app to satisfy the S-rank bitches... then bolt with raid payout.
Decision made, my phone buzzed. Text alert.
From Lapis Julie. The moment I read it, a refined knock sounded: tap tap tap.
No way she got here this fast? I wasn't mentally prepped yet?
Panic froze me for a second, but then a smile crept onto my lips.
...No, on the contrary, perfect.
Chance to practice navigating my fake-hypnosis life ahead.
I gripped my smartphone tight in my right hand and opened the door to greet her.