Chapter 147. There's a Reason for Things That Are Too Cheap
Everyone wants to look younger than their age. Of course, you can't turn back the hands of time. But with proper care, you can make it flow a little slower. Just like right now.
Tatatatatata—
Tadatadatata—
Tatotototo—
"The laser toning treatment is done. Take a short break and get some healing magic."
"Hoo... okay."
"Good. Res, healing magic."
"Yup!"
Rachel's first treatment was laser toning, a procedure that brightens and evens out the skin tone.
"Miner, healing magic's done!"
"Perfect. Moving right on to the next one. Rachel, say ahh~ like this. That's it, a little sting."
Pshut! Pyupyupyuput!
"Hngh!"
The Botox syringe in my hand charged toward Rachel's jaw muscles like a humpback whale crossing the Atlantic.
The principle behind square jaw Botox is simple. In layman's terms, it paralyzes the overdeveloped jaw muscles with Botox to inhibit their growth.
'Like muscle loss from not working out.'
Square jaw Botox doesn't show immediate effects; it takes about two weeks for visible changes.
"Res, healing magic."
"Yup!"
But thanks to Res's healing magic, Rachel's jawline slimmed down right away, giving an instant before-and-after effect.
"Jeez, how the hell did you even take care of yourself?"
"Pardon?"
"Those who can't manage themselves, shut your mouth."
"......"
I'd planned to stop Botox at just the square jaw. But whether it was my growing enthusiasm to beautify Rachel or the quick recovery from healing magic, more flaws kept popping up.
Put! Pyupapaput! Pyupyuput!
Besides square jaw Botox, another one I recommend is wrinkle Botox. For someone like Rachel—young but with such advanced aging signs—it feels essential to inject before those wrinkles carve in like scars.
"Res."
"Yup! Healing magic comiiing~"
With square jaw and wrinkle Botox, I V-shaped her face and nipped those deep-set wrinkles in the bud.
But fix one thing, and another starts looking off. That's the law of beauty.
"Pores are bugging me. Dermotoxin time."
"Dermotoxin? What's that...?"
"Tsk!"
"......Yes."
Skin Botox, aka dermotoxin, isn't injected into muscles like regular Botox. It's a shallow, dense injection across the entire skin surface.
Dermotoxin requires numbing cream first since it's so many tiny shots. Once numb, we dove into the full dermotoxin procedure.
Pyuputputput! Pyuput! Pyububububububut!
"Khmm... hng... "
"Daring to make noise without even basic care? I'm turning you human, so endure it!"
"Heuugh... "
Faint pained groans escaped Rachel's lips, but my hand showed no mercy, stabbing her skin relentlessly.
Enduring this pain is not optional for beauty—it's mandatory. For someone like Rachel, whose face looked like a trash bin, even calling this pain a price for beauty was a luxury.
Pyupapaput! Pyupyuput! Pyubububut!
"Dermotoxin reduces sebum production, shrinking wide-open pores like yours. It also mildly paralyzes facial expression muscles, making skin look bouncy, refined, and glossy."
"Khheup... I, I see."
"I said no talking. Just listen."
"Yes......"
Pyubababat! Pyubat! Pyubabababat!
Besides dermotoxin, we followed up with skin boosters. These enhance skin regeneration and strengthen the barrier for healthier skin—many varieties exist.
"Khheung... "
"All done now. This much is enough."
"Ah, only halfway?"
"Don't move! You wrecked your face like that and now you're complaining?"
"Hngh... "
The skin booster I injected was hydro-lifting, aka water-light injection, packed with hyaluronic acid.
Rachel had classic dehydrated skin. For dry, saggy types like hers, hyaluronic acid hydrates and plumps it up.
'Essential in this cold, dry season for beauty.'
Skin boosters are called water-light injections because post-treatment, skin glows like it's lit from within. But with full-face needling, it looks bumpy like embossing right now.
"Res."
"Yup! Hold on! Nyum—"
Another hour flew by, and Res flitted to my desk, scarfed a gold coin, then returned to cast healing magic on Rachel.
With warm light, the embossed bumps settled down.
"Final treatment incoming."
Elasticity works best when maintained proactively. Right after water-light, I jumped into high-frequency lifting.
Swish—
Swipe—
Swish—
Procedures like InMode fall under high-frequency lifting. It passes RF energy through skin; the heat regenerates collagen and elastin, tightening sagging areas for firmer, bouncier skin.
"Healing magic."
"Yup!"
Swipe—
Swish—
Swipe—
"Healing magic."
"Got it!"
High-frequency doesn't give instant results, so healing magic enabled multiple rapid rounds.
After about five cycles, Rachel finally started resembling a human.
* * *
A week after Rachel's treatments, it was Monday lunchtime again. Instead of relaxing in the staff lounge, a man and woman had come to see me, interrupting my break.
Not that I minded. Their visit was a welcome disruption.
"Contract signed here, all done."
"Thank you. So, starting next Monday, March 4th, report to the Gold Territory office with Rachel. Looking forward to working with you, Thomas, Eva."
"No, my lord! I should be the one asking that."
"M-me too, please take care of me."
"Not 'my lord'—just call me Director. Head on out, see you Monday."
"Yes, Director!"
"Goodbye."
With bows and well-wishes, the young man and woman—Frederik office workers Thomas and Eva—left my office.
Thomas was the sleazy bureaucrat who'd shown up at the Beauty Tower when I first arrived in this world, demanding shutdown for illegal operations.
"Civil servant, huh? Skipping duties for romance. Anyway, tweaking Rachel's face is already paying dividends."
Laser toning, Botox, dermotoxin, skin boosters, high-frequency lifting—Rachel's face literally glowed now.
Not a night-and-day transformation, but her skin shone brighter, more refined and beautiful. Her 29 years of prickly karma hadn't vanished, but the subtle shift made a big difference.
"Thomas clearly likes Rachel... and Eva's got eyes for Thomas. One stone, two birds—better than expected?"
If her old face screamed "rude bitch," now it was cool, aloof mystery—like a cold beauty.
Either way, good for me, good for Gold Territory.
Sure, our territory's "citizens" were just Beauty Tower staff and gold mine workers for now. But preparation is always early—any slaves volunteering for the Beauty Tower were welcome, whatever the reason.
Knock knock—
"Director, it's Cache."
"Come in."
Lost in pleasant thoughts about our new office hires—er, slaves—a knock came. Cache entered.
"What's up? Still lunch break."
"Got all the singer profiles for the Gold Territory promo event. Wanted to show you."
"Why not just crystal orb it over?"
"Ahaha... You don't check yours much."
"Oh, right—it's in my subspace pouch. Let me see."
I'm the type who wants full lunch breaks. Forgot about notifications with the orb stashed away.
Cache grinned, pulled out her crystal orb, set it on my desk, and tapped it awake.
Moments later, photos and flashy profiles popped up like resumes.
"Narrowed to five. Four locals from Frederik, one from the capital."
"Capital?"
"Yeah, even performed for the imperial court."
"Imperial? Sounds perfect—pick her. Too pricey?"
Cache shook her head and played a video of the woman.
A glamorous figure in a floor-length tailcoat sang mic-less in a ballroom.
—The day darkness fades and light arrives. That day too, I waited for youuu~ Wandering streets without you again today...
Explosive vocals like a missile launch, sky-high notes—yet refreshingly clear.
Even a few lines sent chills and emotion surging through me, leaving me speechless. Cache continued.
"As you can see, top-tier talent like this doesn't move cheap. But her asking price is suspiciously low."
"Low? How low?"
"Way under the others—no real creds, but they're 7 or 5 gold. Hers? 1 gold."
"One gold? Just one?"
"Yeah. Feels off for her level."
"Hmm......"
Her voice was enchantingly sweet, almost bewitching. But as Cache said, if it's too cheap, there's a reason.
Obvious scam—normally, delete from the list. But...
"...Let's interview her anyway. Schedule it."
Got to taste it to know if it's shit or miso. Her voice was too alluring to ignore logic.