Nam Sujin Is Rotten
Why do spirits seek out Spirit Contractors?
"Huh? That's, um....."
The most common reason is to raise their rank as spirits.
By contracting with humans, taking in human mana, and leaving traces upon nature, a spirit gradually becomes able to accept more of the natural world itself.
A spirit's instinctive desire to "become complete" inevitably draws them toward a Spirit Contractor.
"That's not it...?"
Except──that is only the way humans see it.
In truth, spirits do not particularly lust after greater strength.
They are born of nature and live breathing within nature.
They are buddies with no "yours" or "mine," so why would they bother growing stronger?
Even if they do become stronger, they neither understand the meaning nor the reason.
There are cases where talent and willpower let them grow powerful by chance, but individuals who actively crave raw power are rare.
"Is that so...."
But, as I have said before.
A spirit is a being in which nature itself has taken on will.
They possess will. They possess life. And any living, breathing life inevitably marches toward death.
For spirits, "death" means──losing their own will.
"Therefore I believe the contract between Spirit Contractor and spirit is the spirits' desperate struggle to stay alive."
Spirits hold power while their will remains thin;
humans possess more concentrated will than any other living thing.
That is why spirits end up resembling their contractors.
And from that point of view—
"There is no bigger load of crap than claiming a spirit shows no motivation whatsoever."
If a spirit stops expressing will, it dies.
No will? No vitality?
That is the same as slipping a noose around your neck and kicking the chair out from under yourself. Why the hell would a spirit do something that insane?
As pure as they are, their desire to live is equally pure.
So the worst-case scenario is a spirit that has zero self-assertion and simply obeys; your situation is not that.
"But our Dasu is always like this...?"
The otter wriggled limply in Sujin's arms.
I shook my head.
"You're not doing anything."
"Yes. I'm not doing anything."
"No. That's not it."
"Huh?"
What do you mean?
Bewildered eyes stared back at me.
I gestured again toward the otter.
"It is actively doing 'nothing'."
"....Ehh...?"
Why the confusion.
Not-doing is still an act of "doing."
In that sense this otter is fully committed to the practice of "doing nothing."
"It is not doing anything—yet it is more aggressively not doing anything than anyone else."
"Ehh....."
She looked like she could not wrap her head around it.
Well, how could anyone gauge nature with such narrow human eyes.
So I clapped twice and called for Hye-won.
"The materials we prepared."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sujin."
"Huh? Eh, ehhhhh?!!"
A screen lowered and someone's room filled the wall.
Duhoo... duhuhuhuhu...!
"...Wow."
Figurines. Figurines. Figurines.
Posters. Posters. Posters.
Scrolls plastered across every wall and two dakimakura neatly arranged on either side of the bed.
The only distinctive feature was that every single one of them was a half-naked man.
As if that were not enough, the Sujin on-screen was also clutching a plush doll to her chest.
"How do I even put this...."
The doll was being crushed beneath her bust, suffering.
Its trembling arms looked like they were screaming for rescue.
Beneath that parade of avant-garde scenes—
"'The real deal,' huh."
Pajamas half-slipped off one shoulder.
Greasy hair hanging loose.
And a pink dildo sitting right beside her for good measure.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah?!! Aah! Aaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Oh."
The moment she grasped the situation, Sujin moved faster than I had ever seen her move and threw herself in front of the screen.
She tried to snatch the tablet. She almost managed it.
"Well."
"In...Instructor....!!"
[Bad girl?]
But the tablet stayed in my hand and Seiren stood guard over the projector.
She had leapt up full of spirit, yet there was nothing Sujin could actually do.
"H-how can you do this to me!"
The sparks finally flew toward Hye-won, who had installed the CCTV without a word.
"I already received permission from Ms. Sujin's parents. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you beforehand."
"Auk...! Au, auuuu.....!"
This side had parental authority on its side.
What parent would refuse when their daughter's boss offered to turn a hikikomori daughter back into a functioning person?
Realizing she had no allies left anywhere in the world, Sujin finally collapsed onto the floor in surrender.
"Yes...that's right. I'm actually this kind of filthy bitch!"
I love anime! I love manga and doujinshi!
Especially the "White Knight" types, or when I get completely hooked on a "Northern Grand Duke"!
I put an X between the male characters' names and go "duhuhuhu!" while I enjoy myself!
Every single night I use my spirit for self-comfort, that's how dirty I am!!!
"""".....?"""""
".....Ah."
I'm a dirty bitch!
Dirty bitch...
Dirty...
...
..
.
"Hikkyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!!"
Sujin had poured everything out in one go.
After unleashing that pure-blooded otaku machine-gun rant, the moment every gaze locked onto her—
"Ms. Nam Sujin."
"....Yes."
I decided to affirm her.
"So you were a possible-chung all along?"
"Huaaaaaaaaaang!!!"
She burst into tears.
Why though.
I get the same feeling looking at our Hecate every now and then, so what.
[─,──]
"Hey. It's perfectly legal."
She threatened to roast me with light if I ever tried anything weird.
Come on, I was joking and she is ready to murder me over it.
"That...you're pretty good, huh? First time I've met a bitch who goes all the way to bed just to get closer to someone."
"I didn't! I just...asked her to lick me a little!"
"Uh, yeah. Okay. My bad."
"Why are you recoiling like that? Just curse me out like usual! Looking at me with those disgusted eyes hurts more!"
Yeonhwa acknowledged Sujin's madness.
"Sujin."
"!,...Harin unnie..."
"Unnie believes in Sujin!"
"Ah. This is that look. The gentle look. The exact same look Mom gave me when I dropped out of high school at eighteen and locked myself in my room for six months aaaa....!!"
Harin gave up.
"Ms. Sujin."
"....Boss."
As for Hye-won—
"I already cut out the parts I was worried about ahead of time, so you don't have to worry about them showing up in the recording!"
"Instructor. What am I supposed to do? I'm starting to seriously want to die."
Sujin's eyes had gone rotten.
It was exactly like staring into the eyes of a woman society had abandoned until she became a hikikomori.
No—wait. That was not a simile. That was simply accurate.
"Still, well, it doesn't really matter, does it?"
"What part of this doesn't matter ooo..."
To the utterly dejected Sujin I delivered a truth of this world.
"You're an Awakener now."
"A half-assed one...duhu...duhuhu...."
"You get paid by Yuseong, right?"
"Yes...thanks to that my dream collection has gotten even more diverse!"
Mm-hmm. Good.
Nothing beats capital after all.
But Sujin. Do you know this little fact?
"With that kind of money you could meet the voice actors in person and go on dates, couldn't you?"
"....Huh?"
"You could even commission an entire anime that inserts your own character. Record lines with your own voice, have the seiyuu record with you."
"Me...in an anime....?"
Desire writhed inside her.
I poured even more will into the flame.
"It doesn't stop at merely buying things."
Having them call your name while whispering love,
having them pull you into their arms, stroke your hair—
every single play you have ever wanted. Don't you want that?
"...I want it."
[...Pii.]
Sujin nodded blankly.
At the same time the otter nodded too.
Yes.
That's it.
I smiled and patted Sujin's shoulder.
"ASMR of your absolute favorite, made solely for you."
"ASMR...!"
[Piiii...!]
Sujin's and the otter's noses flared.
I lightly bonked both of their heads.
"If you want, you can even marry your favorite?"
"Ah, I don't want that. My policy is to always watch my favorite from one step behind."
"............"
What a pain in the ass.
Anyway, now that she had motivation, the otter showed motivation as well.
At least I found the trigger.
The fact that the trigger itself was pretty rotten was absurd, but then again true normals among Spirit Contractors are rare to begin with.
Especially those who awaken as Spirit Contractors later in life—having kept their soul pure until that age already says everything.
Ah. For the record, Sujin's soul is also the pure type.
Even if it is completely blacked out, purity is still purity.
[Pii! Pii, piiiit!]
"Kyaaah?! Instructor! Dasu finally listened to me!"
"Well. That's a relief."
Pure mainly in the sense of containing no impurities.
After training ended I headed to the hospital and entered A-yeong's room.
"Ah...Sunwoo-nim!"
"Hey."
Her smile was a little brighter than before.
Yet the sense that it might shatter at any second remained unchanged.
I sat down, picked up the fruit knife, and began peeling an apple the same way I had last time.
"I'll peel it for you."
"...Okay."
I placed the knife in her hand.
Wondering if she might drive it into her stomach, or drag it across her wrist.
She was a healer so she could fix herself, but I still watched just in case.
"I feel like something like this happened before too."
A-yeong chattered while she peeled.
Without nicking a finger or stabbing anything by mistake, she handed me a clean slice.
"Tastes good."
"Does it?"
Thank goodness.
A-yeong popped the rest into her mouth.
Crisp texture. Bright apple flavor. Still exactly the same.
She smiled softly and gazed out the window.
"Back then...everyone else used to be here together too..."
"Want me to call them?"
"It's okay. They all messaged saying they're too busy to come."
"Yeah."
So she had already tried.
And the only one who actually showed up was me.
Everyone busy in their own places, I suppose.
I wiped the apple juice from my fingertips onto my pants and stood.
"I'm heading out."
"Ah...."
"Even if you're disappointed, what can you do. I'm busy too, punk."
"...I guess so."
A-yeong's voice dropped a little.
I opened the door without looking back.
"Sunwoo-nim."
"What."
"Thank you."
"........"
I gave no answer.
I simply walked out.