Chapter 26: Thank You for Believing in Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 26: Thank You for Believing in Me
"It’s a shame your body froze when you first saw the goblins, but your response after that was perfect. How much did you increase the bracelet's output?"
"40%."
"That was very dangerous. Based on the footage, it didn't look like 40% output. It looked more like 10%..."
Instructor Ryu’s words didn't quite register. The output of my Main Skill wasn't what mattered right now.
Since the novel's title was Academy Pure Love Diary, I naturally assumed there would be only one heroine.
But Harem Pure Love?
'How many more are going to show up?'
Even Instructor Ryu was already in love with Kim Min-su.
The future suddenly looked bleak. Even in the original work, the author had gone on hiatus starting from this point.
The fact that nothing had been decided meant that heroines could be duplicated indefinitely.
'I wish I could have just killed Kim Min-su...'
The Quest conditions were incredibly thorough and cunning. They had explicitly blocked the fastest solution.
The quickest way to stop a Harem Pure Love story is to eliminate the man at the center of it. It was a real shame.
"Cadet Tae-yang?"
"Yes?"
"Is it difficult for you just thinking about what happened then? If it's too hard, we can postpone the investigation."
Looking at the screen, I saw monsters dying in real-time.
Whether it was Goblins, Kobolds, or Orcs, watching their necks explode with a single punch was satisfying even the second time around.
'Wait, was I smiling while killing those monsters?'
It was chilling. I hadn't realized it at the time because things were so chaotic, but in the video, my face was flushed with a thrill of pleasure.
The corners of my mouth were tucked up toward my ears, and my arms were stained green. My hair glowed with a pale green light, looking as if it had been dusted with emeralds.
'I can't tell who the real monster is.'
I was dragging monsters by their heads and kicking their limp, collapsing bodies.
The occasional screams heard in the background weren't because of the monsters; they were because of my actions.
"I'm fine. Instructor, please continue."
"First, let's start by reducing the bracelet's output again. Please adjust it to 1%."
As I manipulated the dial on the bracelet, the number indicating the output rapidly dropped.
When it hit 1%, my body felt as light as it did when I first put the bracelet on.
"Hmm... To explain further, your handling of the monsters was clean. Your use of your ability and your range control were excellent."
"Thank you—"
"And at the same time, you were far too reckless. You still don't understand your own strength, Cadet Tae-yang."
"I'm sorr—"
"However, sometimes an Awakened must take bold risks in front of monsters."
She talked way too fast. The researcher I met at the department store was the same way, and so was Instructor Ryu.
They were the type who had to finish everything they wanted to say before they would listen to anyone else.
While I was seriously debating which beat to follow, Instructor Ryu manipulated the screen.
"Gates and monsters are actually very irregular cases... We haven't fully grasped them yet."
Instructor Ryu continued talking as she worked the controls.
"As you can see on the screen, there's another peculiarity besides the monsters. It's..."
She trailed off, pausing for effect.
I wondered what it was, but then she zoomed in on my pants.
Specifically, the crotch area, where a strange light was emanating.
'Does a beam come out of my crotch too...?'
It was a very faint light that wouldn't have been visible without magnifying it about a hundred times.
This might be the unidentified skill listed in my status window.
"Do... you have any idea... why this light... is coming from here...?"
"From my crotch?"
"Eh?! Ah... yes, yes... your crotch..."
It was painfully obvious she had no experience with men. This was probably a common setting for all the women around Kim Min-su.
The author was truly obsessed with making everyone seem like a virgin from start to finish.
"I'm not sure."
"I-if you look, the light is forming a strange shape. As if it's about to burst out."
To be honest, she was exactly the type I wanted to tease.
Part of me wanted to say it was semen just to see her reaction.
"I'm sorry, I was in such a daze back then."
"Yes, I completely understand. That can happen."
As soon as she finished speaking, Instructor Ryu quickly flipped the screen.
This time, a piece of paper appeared.
The A4-sized paper was covered in smeared ink, with clear traces of someone having hurriedly rubbed it while writing.
"You're probably wondering why I'm suddenly showing you a piece of paper."
Honestly, I wasn't that curious. But I felt like I should play along, so I gave a moderate nod.
"This paper appeared out of nowhere. We found it while investigating the footage at 0.05x speed."
I wished she would just get to the point instead of beating around the bush.
"After restoring the smeared parts, we found the names and numbers of the monsters that appeared at the department store written exactly as they were."
"Which means...?"
The screen showed the restored version of the paper before the ink was smeared.
Just as Instructor Ryu said, the names and total count of the monsters were written there.
"As I thought..."
"Pardon? Do you have an idea of what this is?"
"Ah, no. I just had a feeling something would be written on the paper."
"You have good intuition. To be precise, these monsters were clearly summoned intentionally by someone."
It was the moment my private suspicions were perfectly validated.
I had been uncertain after the cliché incident this morning, but seeing the paper made it certain.
'That bastard, Chubby Ahn...'
The author was trying to kill me.
"Do you have any idea who might have done it?"
"I don't know. There was no one suspicious at the scene."
Chubby Ahn was meticulous, unlike how he looked.
'All the plans I made initially have become meaningless.'
Trying to do something with Yu-min's cooperation was pointless now.
It was time to revise my plans from start to finish.
*
"Good work today."
"Yes, you too, Instructor."
"I ended up holding you until lunch. I'm sorry."
"I only did what I had to do. I'm glad I could get a detailed grasp of the situation myself."
The moments of meeting and parting are when a person's social skills are maximized.
I maintained as much politeness as possible to end things on a good note and walked toward the cafeteria.
'There's so much to organize...'
I opened the memo app on my phone and started typing as things came to mind.
The paper at the department store, the light coming from my dick, and the fact that Chubby Ahn was trying to kill me.
There was a lot to write down.
'Should I just grab something at the snack bar and finish organizing this...?'
I had decided to have pane pasta and bacon risotto for lunch today, so it was a bit of a shame.
Licking my lips, I walked down the hallway, noticing it was strangely noisy around me. I could guess why.
Every time I passed by other cadets, intense gazes brushed against me.
'Having connections is definitely a good thing.'
According to what I heard from Instructor Ryu, the chairman of the department store had spent a massive amount of money.
He dominated the news and did an incredible amount of interviews to solidify his image.
[Monsters at the Department Store? "I wasn't worried at all because a Victory Cadet was there."]
[Chairman Choi Young-nam's Sharp Remark! "I will eliminate all reporters who harass the cadet who saved people."]
[Compensation for the victims... "We will do our best to help them return to their daily lives."]
["Infinite gratitude to Cadet Baek Tae-yang and Cadet Yoo Su-jin." Chairman Choi Young-nam bows in respect to their heroic actions!]
Even just opening the internet, there were hundreds of articles.
Seeing how he turned a situation that could have ruined his entire business into an opportunity to leap forward, he was certainly a businessman through and through.
The more Chairman Choi Young-nam played the media, the more my popularity soared without sign of cooling down.
At this rate, women might eventually show up asking me to sign their asses.
"Tae-yang~!"
As I was walking and typing, I heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, Yu-min."
She approached me with a bright expression, having seemingly ditched her boyfriend somewhere again.
"Were you busy? You didn't even reply to my messages... I'm hurt."
Perhaps because of what happened yesterday, Yu-min couldn't act too forcefully.
Instead, she just pouted cutely and rubbed her cheek against me.
"Oh, right. I..."
Since I had some time, I was going to ask about the contract.
Yu-min seemed to know that, as she nodded before I could even speak.
Realizing this wasn't the place for such a conversation, she took my hand and began to lead me away.
"Let's talk somewhere where it's just the two of us."
"Where are we going?"
"You know..."
As she said that, Yu-min's eyes were tinged with a slight red hue.
*
'I'm back here again...'
I had expected it, but as I thought, it was the two-person cinema room.
Whether by coincidence or design, it was the same room where we had shared our bodies before.
Just looking at the bed made me picture Yu-min spreading her legs while soaking the sheets with her pussy juice.
"Did you suddenly want to see Yu-min's pussy?"
Her direct hit made me cough awkwardly.
I couldn't even deny it, so I just sat on the edge of the bed.
Yu-min naturally sat next to me, and in the blink of an eye, she snuggled into my arms.
"Well... um..."
"I'm just kidding."
Though her eyes were playful, her gaze was serious.
She probably tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but the weight of the word 'contract' was heavier than expected.
I already knew the contents of the contract. However, the phrase 'Absolute Trust' wasn't something easy to accept.
"As you saw in the contract, I can't properly use my power yet."
I could guess as much just from the flowers created in the dormitory.
If it was an Always-Active type skill but couldn't be controlled properly, it was nothing but a poison.
"A witch is always looking for someone to contract with. That's the only way she can be safe."
A Main Skill that can be inherited holds unimaginable value.
Suppose Yu-min were to give me the 'Witch' skill right now.
Then, in an instant, a crazy character with two Always-Active Main Skills would be born.
That was why she had no choice but to hide even the name of her Main Skill.
"A witch... can see other people's Main Skills. It's like a struggle to find a contractor."
"Then..."
"That's right. I thought your Coercion could suppress me."
And it was the most valuable thing I could give in return.
After finishing her sentence, Yu-min stared at me intently.
She was waiting for my actions, not my words.
'It makes sense.'
Her actions were understandable.
It must have been hard to hide the name of her Main Skill and search for a contractor until she was over twenty.
Especially in a situation where she had no one to lean on and couldn't control her power at will.
'But with my Coercion?'
If Yu-min had seen the nature of my skill, everything was explained.
A skill that suppresses the target's power to the extreme was the most essential element for Yu-min.
Without saying a word, I gently took Yu-min's hand.
==================================
Contract Complete!
[Sub-skill] Witch's Blessing (S) {Weakened} has been changed to [Contract Skill] Witch's Blessing (S)!
[Contract Skill] Witch's Blessing (S) :: Physical abilities are greatly increased. Grants absolute resistance to mental attacks such as Charm and Confusion. You see things clearly.
(Always-Active)
==================================
Though she spoke calmly on the surface, I could feel her trembling once I held her hand.
How many people could show everything of themselves and wait entirely for another person?
"Thank you for believing in me."
No more words were needed.
As if we had promised, we embraced each other and began to explore each other's bodies.
With this, Yu-min was now completely in the palm of my hand.
'Kim Min-su, just you wait.'
Now that all the puzzle pieces were gathered, it would take a month at most.
It was time to ruin Kim Min-su's first pure love.