The Beginning of a Long Argument
After a month of relentless marching, the tour finally wrapped up. There were a few hiccups along the way, but somehow we made it to the end of the performance successfully.
We succeeded in spreading the name of Nature far and wide, and several videos from the tour were uploaded to YouTube. In particular, the video from the midway member-replacement segment was edited so that the full before-and-after processing was included.
[Hyung-nya, I'm shaking so hard!]
[Actually... I might even like men.]
[Truth be told, cross-dressing is the most masculine thing a man can do.]
And so on.
People didn't just admire our high-quality animation of Hyewon in her skimpy outfit and pasties performing a no-hit clear. They were genuinely in awe of our completely insane journey of stripping away the pants and going full no-hit clear while wearing nothing but those pasties on a skin glowing with a vibrant purple hue.
If we had been secretly filmed without our knowledge and then hidden the footage, it would have been infuriating. But after exposing every single step of the cross-dressing process and proving that there is a male more pathetic than any woman, it was already too late to reverse public opinion.
Anyway.
No matter what, Nature had done its part perfectly, and the person who deserved the most credit for the entire achievement is currently...
"I'm sending you this bill now, you cheap bastard who only cares about money! What the hell am I supposed to do with my life!"
[Sunwoo-oppa?!]
Completely mentally broken.
***
After the Nature concert ended, I no longer went into the training center.
"You like it?"
"Delicious. But not enough. So I need you to go grab one more pineapple pizza for me."
"Sure thing."
I got up after filling my stomach, then lay down on the couch.
No one could stop me now.
I stuffed the pineapple pizza that had sat untouched in my mouth and bit down hard.
The sweet, sticky pineapple flavor I had never gotten used to. It was like the heart of the person who had vowed revenge after repeatedly licking the bear's urine in order to break the rule I had been living by of eating fruit only cold.
"Are you going to eat some minced meat?"
"Let's not cross any lines between us."
Pineapple is food, but minced meat isn't. That's just toothpaste. The real thing is a fountain of flavor.
Since you can have all you want, I gave him a spoon and pulled the minced-meat ice cream into my arms to eat it.
'Must be because he's a spirit.'
The ice cream didn't melt easily.
Even if I kept eating it deliciously, I guess it was fine, but I quietly hugged Hecate into my arms, turned on the TV, and held her.
"...? What are you doing?"
"Using you as a Dakimakura."
"???"
Think about it.
The girl happily munching on the ice cream the size of her own stomach with both hands right in front of me is completely blissful.
So, under the assumption that it's legal, wouldn't it be only natural to hug her and spoil her?
Plus, the one staying close would reduce the mana-hall load and give advantages for maintaining the summoning time.
Indirectly, it would also help the mana-hall's growth.
After all, there's no need to say, that a spirit contractor has to interact with their spirit often.
"Are there any interesting channels?"
I flipped through the channels, and as expected, there weren't any that looked particularly interesting.
It was almost natural. An awakener who felt uncomfortable the moment something interesting appeared might do anything.
If you exclude this, exclude that, and broadcast, the only things left would be the same similar content.
[Regarding the newly debuted idol group 'Nature' from the Yuseong Group—]
"Su-ueup."
Or show me some cheap gossip instead.
The news said the manager had done the cross-dressing and dance, and it was a netizens' explosion, but in reality, from the shock of the fact that it was a man and an A-class awakener...
I had been told not to tell anyone.
'Why do the calls keep coming?'
It was a mistake to turn off the phone in the morning after getting irritated.
"Hum. Hum."
"You seem happy."
Unlike my rotting face, Hecate was happily wiggling her legs.
Hecate pointed the spoon in her mouth at the TV screen.
"This body is being worshipped as an idol."
"Worshipped? I don't really understand what that means."
The Hecate on the TV screen was in the form of an adult woman, unlike her usual appearance.
It was the result of pulling out the mana from the mana-hall.
Seeing her satisfied, she now rested her head against my chest, her lips curling.
"After all, you are the human who chose this body. When I become the 'Spirit King,' I will definitely reward you!"
".........."
Hecate, in an unusually good mood, threw a public kiss and came closer affectionately.
'Even now this is good, but if she becomes the Spirit King...'
For me, it sounded only like a death threat.
As I said before, the contract with the spirit tears away the mana-hall almost to exploitation levels.
Right now, the mana-hall I was exploiting even as A-class, how much more would it be torn away if she became the Spirit King...
"...I like your current form too."
"? Um um. Today you gave me a lot of answers I like. This body will praise you!"
Hecate stroked my hair.
I let out a small sigh and turned the TV channel.
"Yeut....?!"
"Eh?"
Suddenly trembling, she stepped back one step.
She wrapped both arms around herself and stared at me with a subtle gaze.
"...Even so, it's not okay."
"What is?"
"I will think about it when I become the Spirit King."
"So what?"
Hecate walked straight into my room and closed the door.
Is my daughter going through puberty? Her mood swings are annoying.
First of all, does a spirit even have puberty? I had my doubts.
[There is a fire about the 'worst witch, Morgan' being declared defeated by the Hero Party.]
"Oh? Ooooo..."
The Hero Party was lively too.
Anyway, about defeating Morgan.
"...I didn't think it was just fooling around?"
I had sent him weird videos, thinking maybe it was empty talk, but it turned out the private and public sides were perfect for Hero-nim.
The eyes in the screen didn't seem like they hated it either.
'There's no way a girl who hates it would declare herself as the perfect female in such a pose.'
It seemed like things were finally getting interesting.
I hadn't deleted Se-a's videos yet, but I had planned to.
"Good evening."
I turned the phone back on and deleted all the videos of Se-a that I had accumulated.
She had shouted to delete them herself, so it should be fine.
As a bonus, I blocked the messages too.
No matter how mentally strong I was, I wasn't a sex maniac who could keep watching them...
...
...
Days passed.
I still didn't leave the house.
Someone might ask how I could live if I just stayed inside the house all the time.
But remember.
[The kind master! Seiren really likes kind masters!]
"Yeah. I like Seiren too."
I am a water spirit contractor.
Nam Sujin the hikikomori in Nature is also a water spirit contractor.
In short, we are of the same type.
So today I will rewatch the magical girl Madoka Magica!
'As a bonus, I should look for some skill motives'
The power of a spirit contractor is purely about affinity and imagination.
From that perspective, animation and comics are like a textbook for spirit contractors. I thought so subjectively.
Other spirit contractors told me to shut up and asked how that was possible, but among those who shouted it, only one was above me now.
'S-rank is out of the question.'
That damn cheating Faye League guy.
[...Really? Then I'll wait until I become the Supreme Spirit.]
"Eh? Eh, eh."
I left Seiren's strange words behind and turned on the anime on the computer.
─Caketalk!
[Yoo Hyewon: Oppa. I'm right in front of your door.]
"Eh?"
A message suddenly popped up on the screen.
Unconsciously clicking with the mouse, the screen opened. The computer froze for a moment?
"What is this."
Loading.
Then the numbers──300++
"...What the hell?"
There were more than 300 messages stacked.
I could understand 300 messages in the chat room Nature had made together.
But a 1:1 private chat with me having more than 300 messages stacked was chilling. It was a horror zone.
I had been living by turning off my phone, ignoring the journalist's interview, but apparently between those calls was Hyewon's too.
"Let's see... ugh... awawawa..."
I glanced at the content and found the messages were long.
There was a bunch of 'o' covering the screen as if she had given up on mental health, and after that she apologized, begged to come back, and even cursed me for easily abandoning Nature.
It looked like she had fallen into a state of panic as if she had some kind of mood disorder──BANG BANG BANG!
"......No way."
I got up from my seat and opened the door.
Of course I opened it while keeping the door chain on.
It was a half-measure for peace of mind.
"You... no, all of you what?"
"Sunwoo-oppa..."
".........."
"Ah... hello?"
Yoo Hyewon and the three members of Nature stood in front of my house.
Se-a was awkwardly waving her hand from behind.
"That is...."
"Tell me over there."
".........."
Hyewon saw the door chain I had locked and her eyes trembled finely.
She bit her lips hard. Her eyes grew red. And slowly, bowing her head toward me, she spoke.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
Apology.
Then came the proposal.
"If there's something you want me to do, I'll do anything."
And
"So... please come back!"
"Please come back!"
Following Hyewon's words, everyone bowed their heads.
I had a rough idea of where this was going.
But
"Do you think my words are crap?"
I had already fired the producer.
That meant the contract was already over.
"That was my mistake. I know you can curse me. But... you need Sunwoo-oppa at Nature!"
"Uh-huh. I see."
What do I do about this.
"I don't need you."
"...?"
"I feel like I've done my duty."
"That's.... but...."
Her voice got quieter.
Her strength drained away.
She probably knew it herself.
That's why I said,
"Your apology isn't sincere. What am I supposed to think?"
"!,...That means..."
"Tell me what you did wrong and bring something to make up for it."
".........."
I could forgive it.
The producer? I could hire him again.
But all of that was after the things that needed to be received were received.
"I'll come back later."
On that day, Hyewon turned her footsteps away.
And from that day onward.
"Vitamins. I am now an incredibly weak, empty shell! What the hell am I supposed to do with my life!"
"Oppa....."
The long argument had begun.