Their Daily Lives (1)
Same day. Lakeside Pharmacy.
The sun had climbed high into the midday sky and was now beginning its descent toward the opposite horizon—a time when Choi Hwayoung, as usual, welcomed a morning far later than most. “Ugh… mm…”
The dark circles under her eyes spoke volumes of her exhaustion without needing words. Fumbling for her glasses by the bedside, she muttered softly to herself as she pushed herself up from the bed. “…So tired.”
She suffered from chronic fatigue, so when was she not tired? Still, lately, Choi Hwayoung had greeted mornings that felt less exhausting than her norm—a rarity after so long. The reason was obvious: the sex she'd shared ten days ago with Kim Sungcheol, her junior from the Hunter Association.
She hadn't realized it herself yet, but resolving her pent-up lust and restoring the flow of her stagnant inner energy had triggered all sorts of changes in her body. One was the alleviation of that chronic fatigue. Of course, as a half-elf—only half human—the effect was about half as potent as it might be for a full human, but it was enough for her to noticeably feel less drained.
Though, naturally, the fatigue that had briefly eased was piling up again for entirely different reasons.
The second change was the recovery of her lost awakening ability. As her suppressed desires unknowingly unleashed and her inner energy began circulating naturally once more, she'd regained a fragment of her Ifrit's Flame.
It was just a speck of power—still too meager for a hunter's return to the field. Unlike her prime, when she could melt rocks into lava, the current Choi Hwayoung could only muster enough heat to start a campfire without kindling. Potent firepower, yes, but a bit lacking for combat use.
Besides, she'd make far more profit sticking to potion-making than trying to hunt with it.
It couldn't be helped. After decades of retirement, no one expected a single night of sex to restore all her abilities. Unlike Cha Yuri or Do Sihee, who hadn't lost their combat instincts, reclaiming Choi Hwayoung's full power would demand more than a dozen more romps in the sheets.
A half-elf over 110 years old wouldn't have her deep-seated lusts sated by one creampie, after all.
Of course, she wasn't without ways to use her partial recovery. Once she realized she could summon a fist-sized orb of flame in her palm, Choi Hwayoung began incorporating it into potion brewing. When her burners ran short during multi-batch sessions, she'd substitute with a flame from her hand.
It allowed finer heat control than a standard burner—more efficient, really. She'd managed fine without her powers before anyway.
What actually concerned her wasn't the flame's raw power, but something else entirely.
‘Next time you light your cigarette, be careful with the intensity.’
Those cryptic parting words from Association junior Kim Sungcheol. At the time, she'd just puzzled over them, but now she understood perfectly. He'd predicted—somehow—that she'd regain her ability, sparing her from singeing her hair while lighting up with her usual force.
Had her powers returned while they were together, and he'd noticed for some reason? Or had he been the one to restore them?
Either way, Kim Sungcheol had become a fascinating enigma to Choi Hwayoung.
“Next time we meet, I’ll ask him…” How had he known she’d reclaim her awakening? If he was the cause, what did he want in return?
Decades of monotonous crafting had lulled her scholarly thirst to sleep, but now it stirred anew.
“If he really restored my powers, the only thing that comes to mind is… that.”
Sex. The only thing he'd done to her body was their coupling that day.
Unwittingly hitting on the truth, Choi Hwayoung still wore a dissatisfied frown.
“But there’s tons of data showing sex has no real link to awakening abilities…”
Having lived so long, she’d dabbled in countless fields, including research on delaying awakening decline. She’d even collected papers on common traits among hunters who postponed retirement.
One long study on those who stayed active past their thirties. Now dismissed as flawed, she still recalled its gist:
First, 96% of hunters over thirty who hadn’t retired were married or had boyfriends.
Second, 90% of heterosexuals preferred muscular or high-stamina men.
Third, 75% of those partners had prior male hunter experience.
This sparked the old formula: preserve your powers by marrying a retired male hunter.
The paper wasn’t entirely wrong, but marriage alone wasn’t the fix. The true key? Having sex filled with genuine love for your partner.
Simply wedding or bedding a male ex-hunter wouldn’t cut it. Post-paper, hasty marriages to any old male hunter boomed—but fizzled fast when powers didn’t return.
Break it down, and the paper held water: physical intimacy was needed, so partners were essential; normal stamina couldn’t satisfy hunter women, demanding muscle or endurance; ex-hunter men empathized better with the grind.
But fake hunters padding resumes for marriage market edge, and women wedding any hunter just to cling to power? No love, no real sex—just dutiful flops leaving both unsatisfied.
No wonder divorce rates hit record highs worldwide, Korea included.
A few rare soulmate matches worked, sure—but in this mess, they were statistical noise.
Thus, sex’s role in awakenings got dismissed as a botched stat from bad methods.
“No point brooding alone. Better to ask someone in the know.”
She could quiz Kim Sungcheol first; if he didn’t know, dive back into research later.
Shoving aside the unresolved puzzle, Choi Hwayoung flopped back onto the bed she’d just risen from.
The third change since that night with him: a surging libido.
“……”
How long had it been since she’d gotten up? Already debating slipping back under the covers to touch herself.
That explained her stubborn dark circles, despite eased fatigue. Lately, she’d crawl into bed daily for frantic masturbation—enough to reignite her exhaustion.
Women’s self-pleasure drained stamina right up to climax, then left lingering lethargy. Her already low reserves burned faster with this ramped-up lust.
Even potion-making finished quicker thanks to her powers, freeing time for… other pursuits. No need to spell it out.
She’d even skipped her beloved Black Slime cigarettes, redirecting that time to finger play.
Old habits died hard, especially late-blooming ones.
“Maybe I should hold off… I really need to cut back…”
Human or half-elf, time flowed differently—but 110 years without sex’s pleasures wouldn’t fade after one night. Kim Sungcheol had stoked her fire halfway and left, leaving her body in heated turmoil.
“Still, I can’t work like this…”
Brewing potions in this state? Zero focus. Better to quench the urge first for efficiency, she rationalized.
“Just once, then work. Just once…”
Muttering her ritual defeat to herself, she slipped her fingers inside her panties once more.