Chapter 44: Capturing Lumi
Lucy's face turned as red as molten lava.
"Y-You… You saw everything, didn't you…? T-Then, don't tell me…?"
"Wait a second. Hold on, Lucy. Just wait! Don't get up! You're still a patient!"
"Tell me clearly. Did you do something weird to me or not? I… I really won't be able to hold back if you did."
Magic flared up around Lucy.
This was seriously dangerous. I quickly tried to explain.
"Lucy. Calm down and listen to me first."
"But my stomach… No, more precisely, that place below my stomach…"
Lucy looked at me, her face flushed, desperately pleading for a proper explanation.
"I reversed the arousal spell cast on you. I don't know much about the female body, but that sensation is probably just a side effect of the spell."
"R-Reversed it? That's a lie! How could you reverse a spell like that? That's an advanced technique!"
"I'll prove it. Remember next week's Magic Analysis class where we learn to dispel barriers? I'll show you then. Will that be enough?"
"…Okay. But if you fail… No, please just succeed… I'd rather that."
"Besides, Professor Im Sol was there too. Seriously, nothing happened. If you're really worried, you can ask her."
"…Alright. I'll believe you."
Lucy finally calmed down at the mention of Im Sol.
She didn't even realize her hymen was gone and looked relieved. Watching her like that… Hmm. Does it make me a piece of trash if I find this exciting?
If she ever found out, I'd have to insist it was a rescue operation. No choice.
In a world where even CPR can be considered harassment, I wasn't sure how well that excuse would hold up.
'Well, at least she's convinced for now.'
Lucy's expression brightened up again.
"Ah, right. I should call the doctor to let them know you're awake."
I pressed the call button next to the bed to summon a nurse.
As soon as the nurse entered and saw Lucy awake, she immediately left to fetch the doctor.
"Perfect timing. The test results for demonic contamination should be ready soon. Though, seeing you up like this, the chances seem low."
The doctor gave Lucy a quick check-up and confirmed that the test results would arrive soon.
As expected, the results came back clear.
As soon as we received confirmation, we proceeded with the discharge process.
"Uh, um. Want to grab a meal together?"
As soon as we left the hospital, Lucy hesitantly asked.
"Are you sure you're up for it? You look exhausted."
Anyone could see Lucy was still drained. Considering what she had just been through, there was no way she'd be fine.
"S-Still! I can at least eat!"
"Don't push yourself. I forgot to let Lumi know about the sudden discharge, but she was really worried about you."
"A-Ah! Right, Lumi! I need to go see her! Let's eat later! Sorry!"
Lucy's face turned pale, and she dashed off in the direction of the girls' dormitory.
Apparently, Lumi's well-being was far more important to her than a meal with me.
Well, they are twin sisters in this setting, after all.
I headed back to my dorm.
I wondered if Liliana was behaving herself at home.
She's nice to look at, makes money, and is generally great. The only problem is that whenever she sees me having sex, she starts going into heat and making a scene. That's annoying.
Maybe I should stop bringing her around. But who knows what kind of trouble she'd get into if left alone.
'Damn scam contract landed me in this mess.'
At least she makes good money. I recently saw a post titled [A Day's Earnings for a New Academy Streamer.jpg], and from the looks of it, I wouldn't have to worry about Liliana's maintenance costs.
Her upkeep costs about ten million won a month, but she's pulling in six figures daily.
She's basically a money-printing machine. Liliana's just shoveling cash my way.
'Ah, I should check the dungeon training schedule again.'
I already reviewed it once, but I should double-check in case of any changes.
Lost in thought, I arrived at my dormitory.
Beep—
I tapped my smartwatch against the door lock and entered.
The dorm was dark and silent. Liliana was nowhere to be seen.
"Is she streaming in her room? But her channel wasn't live when I checked earlier."
Creak. Slam! Thud, thud, thud!
Just as I was taking off my shoes, I heard a door open and slam shut, followed by frantic footsteps toward the entrance.
"Haa, haa, haa… Welcome back."
She was wearing messy sweatpants, her face flushed red.
Was she sick?
"Yeah, thanks."
"Y-You recovered so fast! Impressive!"
"I wasn't really that hurt to begin with. I need to use the computer for a bit to check my class schedule."
"Ah, no!"
Liliana frantically waved her hands. Her face turned even redder.
"…? Why not?"
"B-Because I was in the middle of a ranked match and just came to say hi! Let me finish first!"
Without waiting for my reply, Liliana dashed back into her room.
"…?"
Screech! "Kyaaah! I'm such an idiot!" Crash!
What the hell was she doing?
*
"Are you really not coming with me?"
"…Yeah. I don't really feel like it today."
"Alright. Get some rest."
Liliana seemed out of it and said she'd skip class to stay home.
I guess that's a normal reaction after what happened?
Maybe I'm the weird one for being totally fine.
Friday, the last weekday.
Two days after the demon Felix was subdued by students at Victoria Academy, I returned to campus.
"Huh? Isn't that the guy from the news?"
"Hey, you're Lee Hoyeon, right? It's an honor to be in the same academy as you!"
"Excuse me, could I get your autograph…?"
The aftermath of taking down Felix was bigger than I expected.
From classmates I'd never spoken to, to second-years with blue brooches, and even third-years with black brooches—
Even upperclassmen were recognizing me.
This was way too much attention. As a former loner, I quickly ninja-walked toward the first-year building.
But things weren't much different there.
Entering the A-Class classroom, I saw Lucy surrounded by classmates while Lumi stood awkwardly beside her.
As soon as I walked in, a group of girls approached me.
"Hoyeon! Are you okay? Is it true that you and Lucy defeated a demon together?"
"Hey! If it made the news, it must be true! Stop asking weird questions!"
"Then can you tell us about how you took down the demon? Lucy absolutely refuses to talk about it…"
Well, of course. She doesn't remember a thing.
Since Lucy couldn't explain it, it'd look weird if I went into detail, so I decided to play it vague.
"Well, the investigation isn't fully wrapped up yet, and I was given strict orders not to talk about it. If you keep pushing, you guys might get into trouble."
"Oh, no! I didn't mean to! Sorry!"
The girl who had been questioning me immediately backed off, startled.
The other students also seemed to calm down and slowly returned to their seats.
I approached Lucy and Lumi, who were now free from the crowd.
"Morning, guys. Mind if I sit here?"
"Of course not."
"Good morning, Hoyeon."
I set my bag down behind Lucy's seat.
Something about being back in my usual spot made me smile.
"Ugh, starting the day with theory class is the worst!"
"Well, at least it's better than combat training right after getting discharged."
The professors at Victoria Academy are all fairly renowned in their fields.
Because of that, their schedules shift weekly to accommodate their research and duties.
Today's class was Modern Hunter Studies with Professor Kang Hyorin.
"You should be moving around more if you want to recover faster. You still don't understand me, do you?"
Yesterday, Lucy seemed mentally exhausted, but today she looked much better.
I kind of hoped her personality would mellow out a bit due to this ordeal.
Creak—
"Good morning, everyone~."
Professor Kang Hyorin walked in, dressed neatly in a shirt and jeans. It had been a while since I last saw her.
"Today~! I finally finished grading your exams! I had way too much work, so I'm really sorry for the delay. But don't worry—I'll go over the answers thoroughly!"
She pressed a button, and a holographic display at the front of the room lit up, showing our scores.
For students at the bottom of the rankings, this was a humiliating moment. But for someone like me, who ranked high, it didn't matter much.
1st place: Lee Hoyeon.
2nd place: Elise.
…
"Huh?"
A student at the front of the class was the first to react in confusion.
That's because the name that was always supposed to be in first place was now in second.
"What the hell, Hoyeon? How are you in first place?"
"W-Wow. Hoyeon! You're amazing!"
Even Lucy and Lumi, sitting in front of me, reacted with surprise.
Elise, who had been quietly looking at her book, finally lifted her head to check the rankings.
"…!?"
Elise's expression froze in disbelief as she stared at the results.
Then she quickly turned her head toward me.
Biting her lip, she seemed… pretty pissed.
Uh-oh. Should I wave? No, probably not a good idea.
I held eye contact with her for two seconds before chickening out and looking away.
"Wow, I was grading Hoyeon's answers, and I had to double-check three times! He got every single question right, even the ones I expected most students to get wrong! Honestly, I think he understands this material better than me!"
Professor Kang Hyorin's words put even more pressure on me.
Praise is nice and all, but saying stuff like that is just going to make Elise jealous.
"Now, let's go over the exam using Hoyeon's perfect answer sheet as our guide!"
Oh, great. This is beyond embarrassing. This is public humiliation.
My face burned as I hung my head and listened to the lecture.
If Liliana were here, she'd definitely be teasing me like crazy. Thank god she's not.
*
After class, while I was packing up my books, Lucy spoke to me.
"Want to grab dinner together tonight?"
"Tonight?"
"Yeah!"
She was definitely in much better shape than yesterday. She had barely been able to stand before, but now she seemed full of energy. Maybe spending the night with Lumi helped her recover?
"I'm always up for food. Lumi, you're coming too, right?"
"…Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course! Lumi and I are inseparable!"
…Did she just hesitate? No, probably just my imagination.
"Come on, Lumi!"
"O-Okay! Let's go together."
We had dinner at the Victoria Academy shopping district before heading back to our dorms.
Thanks to Liliana, money wasn't an issue, so we ate quite well.
Later that evening, I met Lumi again at the training grounds.
"Are you sure you're okay? You were just discharged…"
"I'm fine. I barely got hurt."
"Still…"
"Shhh. Let's just get started."
Today, I decided to teach Lumi about barriers.
Initially, I was supposed to be the one learning, but somehow, it ended up like this.
"First, you know the basics, right? You have to weave your mana together and harden it."
"Y-Yes! I know that much."
"And the will to make it solid is just as important. You should be better at this than me."
"Uh… I'm not sure. Is it something like neural theory?"
"Neural theory? I have no idea what that is, but I'm talking about embedding the attribute of hardness into your mana. Since that seems to be your specialty, I think it'd be best to enhance that aspect."
"…? Attribute? Will? I don't really get what you're saying."
"…?"
Wait, didn't I learn about the will of mana from Lumi's barrier? Why doesn't she know about it?
"You don't know about embedding will into mana?"
"Nope… I've heard of mana attributes, but I've never heard of 'hardness' as one, and will is completely new to me… I'm sorry for not being much help…"
"No, no, it's fine."
Lumi is a top prospect in Class A, Year 1. If even she doesn't know, then it's safe to assume others don't either.
'Come to think of it, the game never mentioned anything about will, either.'
I had assumed the game glossed over magic settings, but maybe people in this world simply don't realize that mana can be imbued with will.
Even if they can sense it, the fact that Lumi doesn't understand it means there's no established system for it.
'I found it. A new research topic.'
This would be a perfect project to bring to Im Sol.
"Forget what I just said for now. It was just my personal speculation. I'll explain it to you properly later."
"Ah, okay. Got it."
"Shall we call it a day for now? We only trained for about an hour, but there'll be more opportunities."
"Alright. But um, H-Hoyeon…?"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Why is she clenching her eyes shut and trembling? Don't tell me… is she about to confess?
Wait, hold on. This is bad timing!
"H-Hoyeon, do you… have time tomorrow? Want to go to that tteokbokki place from before? And maybe… have a drink too?"
★ Heroine Status Window
[Lumi]
- [ Affection: 65 ]
- [ Lust: 78 ]
- [ Hunger: 25 ]
- [ Fatigue: 45 ]
Current Status: I must be crazy! Asking a guy out on a date first?!
"…"
Feeling awkward about Lumi's proposal, I opened the Heroine Status Window.
Something's off. This is strange. Her lust level is abnormally high.
She must be incredibly nervous; her face is flushed red like an apple.
But that expression… It looks like she's anticipating something…
It overlaps with the face she made in the game when she begged for another round during intimacy.
'She remembers.'
Lumi definitely remembers that event. Otherwise, there's no way to explain this absurdly high lust value.
'You little pervert. Acting all innocent while remembering everything, huh?'
This is practically an open invitation—like saying, 'Please devour me.'
I was already planning to ask her out, but since she made the first move, that just makes things easier for me.
"Alright. Let's meet up this weekend."
With a sinister plan forming in my mind, I gave her my answer.