The Demonic Capital, New York

She was already quite worked up by the time she entered my room. Mimata Chieri twisted her body restlessly, her face flushed deep red with arousal.

Hmm. Should I give her the Elixir of Strength? Strength is important if she wants to learn martial arts, after all. Her agility was already high enough, so the elixir seemed perfect for Mimata Chieri. Still, I couldn’t waste such a precious item without making sure first.

I pulled the relic glasses from my carrier case and looked at her. Mimata Chieri tilted her head, staring at me with a puzzled expression that clearly asked why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was suddenly wearing glasses.

“Junior?”

“Just a moment.”

I raised a hand to stop her as she tried to approach, focusing instead on the status window that had appeared before my eyes.

Two levels higher than me, and her status window was packed with traits—quite flashy. She’d undergone three biological modifications. The numbers in parentheses, like Agility: 14(+5), meant the base was 14 with an additional +5, making her actual stat 19.

The reason it displayed this way was because surpassing the hard limit of 20 created something called Transcendence, which granted incredible effects. Simply cutting off your arm and attaching a mechanical one didn’t create Transcendence.

So whether through long training, an incredible trait, or being born as a high-Transcendence species, your stat might show as 21. But biological modification would display it as 10(+11). Only when the number before the parentheses exceeded 20 could you truly say you had transcended.

Enough about Transcendence. As for modifications, they were generally divided into biological and mechanical, each with their own pros and cons.

Biological modification didn’t trigger metal detectors and left no obvious external signs, making it ideal for agents like Mimata Chieri. It also had fewer side effects than mechanical modification.

Mechanical modification, on the other hand, was far stronger. It suited combat operatives better than agents. Even at the same advanced grade, it could add +17 or more—three times the boost of biological mods—allowing rapid power growth. But it came with a massive drop in base physical stats. Obviously, if you could replace an arm with a machine one and keep your original stats, it would be overpowered. Biological modification strengthened the existing body, so it added to the base stats.

Another advantage was the ability to install many special functions. It could store all kinds of weapons, fire electricity or flames, and even house hacking tools.

Anyway, Mimata Chieri’s stats were quite excellent. Her Strength, Resistance, and Recovery were a bit low on the physical side, but her high Agility and Nerves allowed for nimble, complex movements.

Mentally, her high Focus and Judgment meant she was more likely to make the right choice in urgent situations.

Her trait window was almost entirely Epic grade except for two, which was impressive. Most were highly versatile. Cloud Striding improved body control, while Dance of the Willow Branch granted flexible movement.

Copycat sped up early learning of any technique. Ah, so that’s how she managed to quickly steal the basic forms of my Shinkaiyatsude.

Owl’s Eyes was a superior version of Yukiko’s Hawk Eyes, boosting vision and providing night vision.

Crowd Assimilation specialized in infiltration and stealth, giving bonuses when hiding in crowds.

Finally, she had two Master traits: Master of Marksmanship and Master of Martial Arts. The former was exactly what it sounded like. The latter was a general trait covering swordsmanship, fist techniques, and more, but its power was weaker than specialized traits.

Because of that, users of Master of Martial Arts typically learned multiple styles and switched techniques depending on the opponent. Since Mimata Chieri also had Copycat, I should stuff her full of various techniques. Her skills were all Rare grade or lower despite such a great trait window, so I’d need to find her some good secret manuals.

“Are those glasses x-ray specs or something? Why are you staring at me so intensely?”

When I kept watching her through the relic glasses, Mimata Chieri blushed like a woman being visually violated and squirmed. What a woman. I was just looking at her stats, yet she was getting excited all by herself.

“Sit here first.”

I took off the relic glasses, sat at the table in the room, and pointed to the seat across from me. Now that I knew her Strength hadn’t exceeded 12, I was certain the Elixir of Strength would work. Time to make her drink it.

“Drink this, Senior.”

Once Mimata Chieri sat down, I handed her the bottle of elixir and spoke. She took it, opened it slightly, took a small sip, then drank a bit more.

“Huh? It’s alcohol?”

“Yes. It’s supposed to be good for women. Drink it all.”

I had considered giving it to Yukiko or Han Yugyeong, but I’d already decided on the Grizzly Totem for Han Yugyeong and a ring for Yukiko. So this Elixir of Strength was for Mimata Chieri. The music box would go to Madam Jin Mi-ja, and I’d find something else for Alice once we reached New York.

“It has such a deep aroma.”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“It’s several hundred years old.”

“What? You bought this at an auction, right? Are you sure it’s okay to give something this expensive to me?”

When I told her it was centuries old, Mimata Chieri looked shocked and asked again. I smiled and nodded.

“You have to drink the whole bottle for it to work, so finish it right here in front of me, Senior.”

“It’s not that much, but…”

As she said, the amount wasn’t large. Roughly 150 milliliters—about five ounces. Roughly three shots of soju.

“You’re not drinking any, Junior?”

“Come on, I told you the whole bottle has to be drunk for the effect. Besides…”

“Besides?”

When I paused mid-sentence, Mimata Chieri looked at me curiously. I leaned in, brushed her long orange hair behind her ear, and whispered softly.

“I want to see you drunk and disheveled…”

Her already flushed face grew even redder. She lifted the bottle and began gulping down the Elixir of Strength. Her throat bobbed as she emptied it in one go. I didn’t know the exact principle, but supposedly it raised the stat from 0 to 2. I hoped it would go all the way to 2.

“All… done~”

As expected of a liquor aged for centuries, it seemed incredibly strong. Mimata Chieri had already moved close to me. When she told me she’d finished, her breath carried an intensely rich scent of alcohol.

Still, there was no way a woman with her alcohol tolerance would get drunk off 150 milliliters. She was probably pretending to be a little tipsy just to excite me.

“Look at me, Junior… Because of you… I’m all disheveled now.”

She lifted the curtain-like skirt of her babydoll, exposing her slender, smooth thighs and her pussy drenched in thick love juices. A rich feminine scent washed over me.

I was already painfully hard, but smelling Mimata Chieri made me even harder. With light, silent movements, she climbed onto the table.

Still holding her skirt up, she slowly spread her legs until her glistening pussy was right in front of my nose.

“Junior, I drank it all… so please lick me.”

Her eyes, clouded with alcohol, lust, and affection, begged for cunnilingus. I didn’t refuse. I buried my face between her legs.