So This Was the Practical Training?! (3)
So This Was the Practical Training?! (3)
In truth, Sia no longer knew what she was saying.
The exhilaration of battle. The excitement from their constant physical contact.
Above all, the fact that they were alone together in a secluded Gate.
All of it had thoroughly scrambled her thoughts.
"If you like me... then it's okay."
—Slide.
She'd gone so far as to straddle Yujin and lift her own clothes.
From any distance, it was an invitation.
An invitation to perform "patriotic service" with her right then and there.
Yujin's eyes spun.
'What was this? Why was Sia suddenly... There was no way she'd do this unless she liked me, right?'
—Ding!
[The skill 'Complete Hypnosis' activates.]
'That could not be right....'
The hypnosis placed on him—even he was unaware of it.
Complete Hypnosis was truly doing everything it could.
To protect its master. To keep him from recognizing feelings he wasn't yet supposed to notice.
But...
'Still, this was obvious. She was clearly asking me to do it. Had she already fallen for me?'
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" acti....]
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis"....]
[..........]
[.......]
[....]
"Yujin, answer me. You... liked me, right?"
"W-Well. You see...."
'Was I supposed to just confess? Unlike Master, I felt like I could persuade Sia. Was I really going to shut my eyes and go for it today?'
—Ding!
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" screams!!]
Forget being dense. No able-bodied man could possibly fail to understand this.
This was unmistakably that kind of moment.
If he drew his sword now, they'd immediately start making a baby.
There were limits to how completely his awareness could be erased.
—Ding.
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" squishes its cheeks and sinks into thought....]
Inside Yujin's mindscape, Complete Hypnosis agonized.
Could it stop him by force?
No. The authority it had been given was nowhere near enough.
Could it keep inducing misunderstandings as before?
That was impossible too. Its master was already regretting not bringing a condom.
What was I supposed to do? At this rate, I'd fail.
———The mission its master had personally ordered: protect him.
—By the name of "???", I command. I, Seo Yujin....
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" recalls a memory.]
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" brims with determination!]
The resolve that had nearly broken surged up again.
Right. It would find some way through this.
It had to overcome a situation where its master would perform "patriotic service," cough blood, and collapse at any moment.
And so, the hypnosis...
—Ding!
[The skill 'Complete Hypnosis' activates.]
'...Right. I'd kiss her first, then confess.'
Rather than stopping him, the hypnosis pushed Yujin forward.
A man had to accept what was offered, Master.
One passionate kiss. One confession of love.
The patriotic service came after that. Understood?
Yujin's reason crumbled under the hypnosis's coaxing.
With almost absurd ease.
"Sia... kiss me."
—Pucker.
He gently closed his eyes and thrust his lips forward.
A signal that he couldn't move, so she had to come to him.
Stars sparkled in Sia's eyes.
'I asked whether he liked me, and he asked for a kiss? That settled it. Yujin really did like me.'
—Slide.
"Yeah...♡"
She slowly lowered herself.
Their upper bodies gradually came together.
Their stomachs touched first.
Then breasts that were by no means small—merely modest compared with those around her—pressed against his chest.
Their rough breaths tangled together.
Before long, Sia and Yujin were face-to-face.
—Thump, thump.
'He would hear my heartbeat... But so what?'
Sia slowly lowered her face.
To give him her first kiss.
To become happily connected with him.
A quiet smacking sound echoed.
—Smooch.
"......♡"
Their first kiss began with a light peck.
And then...
—Ding.
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" seizes its chance and charges forward!!]
———The cheetah that had carefully waited for its moment broke into a full sprint.
Complete Hypnosis raced through Yujin's mindscape.
Locks hung throughout his psyche.
It charged toward one of them, determined to tear it open.
At that moment, Yujin's closed eyes snapped open.
—Slurp.
"......Mmmpf!!!?"
'A deep kiss? Right from the start!?'
The innocent peck had made me happy enough to float away.
And now her tongue suddenly pushed inside?
'What was going on? My first kiss with Sia had been clumsy, which was what made it cute.'
'Was this because we were about to perform patriotic service?'
—Slurp, slurp.
"......."
Meanwhile, Sia wordlessly moved her tongue.
Despite it being her first time, she was as skilled as though she'd done it thousands of times.
She couldn't think at all and merely followed her instincts.
Exactly as Complete Hypnosis intended.
'Right. I was going to do it with Sia anyway, so this much....'
—Ding!!
[———Unlock condition fulfilled. The seal on "???" is partially released. (1/3)]
".........?"
As a result, notifications flooded Yujin's vision.
Alongside an incomprehensible notice that he'd suddenly fulfilled some condition...
[Partial activation of "ㅁㅁㅁ ㅁㅁ (Lv.???)" raises all stats by 1.0.]
[Warning. The subject's current body cannot withstand....]
—Throb.
"......!!!!?"
'What was this? It suddenly hurt like hell...!!'
It felt as though his heart, brain, and every muscle in his body were being crushed.
Something unbearable—something he'd needed hypnosis itself to suppress—surged through his body.
It brought tremendous pain with it.
Blood streamed from his nose.
'It hurt, it hurt, it hurt...!!'
[Warning. Warning. Unable to withstand "???". Applying status effect "Soul Collapse (Mild)" as a side effect....]
—Ding!
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" frantically clasps its hands and begs!]
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" tearfully insists it had no choice because that shameless hussy behaved that way.]
[.......]
[The higher-order skill "???" shows mercy! The Absolute One embraces you, greatly reducing the failure penalty.]
["???" barely takes root in your body.]
[As a side effect, the skill "Complete Hypnosis" becomes unavailable for 24 hours.]
Fortunately, the pain didn't last long.
Complete Hypnosis had played a full montage of cute antics inside his mindscape.
Yujin had no idea any of that had happened.
He merely blinked.
As though wondering, What had just passed through me?
'I had been deep-kissing Sia, then suddenly the pain... Sia!?'
But that only lasted a moment.
Yujin jolted and focused again.
He'd suffered excruciating pain and feared Sia might have experienced the same thing.
Sia's eyes met Yujin's.
—Slurp.
"......."
Their tongues parted without a word.
A sticky strand of saliva stretched between them.
Her brown eyes were filled with confusion.
And finally...
Her upper lip was smeared with blood.
Yujin panicked.
"S-Sia, are you okay!? Where does it hurt!!? Wait here. I'll call Suyeon right now...."
—Struggle. Squish.
"Hyaaah!?"
Sia panicked as well.
Every time Yujin moved to sit up, their bodies inevitably rubbed together.
The parts pressed flush together because of their position.
And so, Sia...
—Spring!
"W-Worry about yourself!! You suddenly got a nosebleed. Idiot. Idiot!"
Unable to bear it, she sprang to her feet.
Her face was crimson, and her eyes still trembled with shock.
"Oh. That was my blood on you. Thank goodness...."
—Whirl.
"I'm going back. Hmph. Idiot. Idiot."
"...Sia? Sia!?"
"Don't follow me!! ...I'll leave my handkerchief, so stop your nosebleed first!!"
Then she sprinted toward the Return Portal as though fleeing.
Her twin braids vanished inside a halo of light.
Yujin was abruptly left alone in the Gate.
"Sia? Hey?"
'Why was she acting like that? The mood had been good. We had even kissed, and I had been about to confess that I liked her.'
Questions chased one another through his confused mind.
'We had not even performed patriotic service yet. Why had she reacted like that?'
Had I done something wrong?
'What had I done wrong....'
—Throb.
'......Oh.'
Yujin understood only after looking down at his crotch.
'Come to think of it, a notification had said Complete Hypnosis was unavailable for twenty-four hours or something.'
'That must have undone the hypnosis suppressing my libido.'
And it had come undone spectacularly, leaving him fully unsheathed.
I had even writhed beneath Sia.
Fully erect, in that humiliating position.
'On top of getting a nosebleed during her first kiss, I must have looked like an animal in heat trying to hump her.'
In other words, he'd smeared blood over her face during her first kiss.
He had done something that could easily be mistaken for forced molestation.
Then the shameless pervert had tried to hold her there until the end.
At least, that was how he saw himself.
—Thud, thud.
"You Rice Cake bastard. Your wife served you a feast, and instead of eating it gratefully, you flipped the table? You're disqualified as the Hypnosis Breeding Guy, you clueless Rice Cake bastaaard...."
His regretful pounding on the innocent floor echoed through the Gate for a long time.
—Ding.
[The skill "Complete Hypnosis" wipes the sweat from its brow, pleased with another job well done.]
Everything had gone according to the plan of the hypnosis that had somehow developed an ego.
* * *
Meanwhile, outside the Gate...
Sia fled without once looking back.
She left behind the A-rank Awakeners who had been waiting with suggestive smiles.
"Hehe. Young lady, how did it—B-Blood!!!"
"What on earth happened in there!? Why is there blood on your face!?"
"Monsters? Then what about Yujin!?"
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!! I want to go home!!"
As an added bonus, she threw a tantrum with her face bright red and demanded to go home.
It showed just how flustered she was.
The Awakeners were thrown into chaos.
"Shell shock!? Everyone, arm yourselves and reenter the Gate! If anything happened to Yujin...."
—Slam.
"Secretary. Take me to the academy. Now."
Sia used the commotion to climb into the car.
She fled without looking back.
Away from Yujin.
No, to be precise...
—Ding.
[A fragment of "???" touches "???" and resonates!]
[Part of the seal is released.]
[......!!!? W-Well. Um. Thank you for talking to me. Hehe.]
[Y-Yoo Sia!! F-Fall in love with meee!!!]
[I'm sorry I'm trash who uses hypnosis on peopleee....]
—Clench.
'What was this? What were these vivid memories!?'
———She was fleeing from nonexistent memories that flooded her mind.