One of the most necessary skills when working with the public is a decent level of charisma. If you, for example, had to interact with people daily, it's at least needed to properly measure what to say and when to keep your mouth shut.
The thing is, King wasn't in a position to demand much. The mission rewards at least covered him from the waist down, but his chiseled chest and abs were still on display, accentuating the masculine curves of his body to the point where any single woman in the village would subconsciously orbit him. Well, it could be a positive side effect of being so shredded.
The woman who helped him earlier was named Lessandra. She was returning home after accompanying her husband to the edge of the forest and planned to spend the rest of the day baking bread until she came across that naked man being hunted by a wild bear.
Lessandra brought him inside her house. Fortunately, her son had gone out with his father, so no one was home, and she could temporarily lend him some clothes to take care of the innocent man. The two sat at the table, with a teapot and two cups served.
"I apologize for being so direct, but may I ask again who you are?"
"Well, I'll give a proper introduction now." He gave a smile and crossed his arms. "I'm King Maverick, Influencer with 500,000 followers, Personal Trainer, lover of physical activity, and of course, the king of the ladies..."
" 'King'? Is that really your name? Isn't it a bit... arrogant?"
"Huh? But it is my name! My pops, an smart guy, gave me that name when I was born because he knew right away that I was destined to be awesome. Guess what, it looks like he was right."
"Well, I don't know exactly what those things you said are, they must be from the big city... Still, why were you... uhh... in that situation?"
"Oh, right, you saw me butt-naked running from the bear." At first, King thought about making up a lie, but he decided it would be too disrespectful to the person who helped him. "To be honest, I have no idea. You know, I woke up in the middle of the forest, and a voice from beyond told me to come here. That beast found me on the way."
Lessandra tilted her head slightly to the side, now more interested. She took a sip of the tea and then placed the cup on the table with extreme care. This brief window was enough for King's professional instincts to kick in, analyzing the person in front of him.
It was an involuntary but normal habit. First, he knew that carrying a butcher knife and throwing it that way required great strength, so that woman either worked with heavy loads or had done a lot of manual labor in the past. Even though her arm was hidden in the sleeve of her dress, her hand was veiny, with calluses appearing on the palms.
"Could you be an... envoy of the goddess?" the woman asked. "There are people in this world who are brought here at different times. They say they all have the goal of improving the lives of others. It's not news, to be honest, I've seen many during my career..."
"If it's not a bother, can I ask what you used to work as?"
"I was an adventurer, but that was many years ago. When I got pregnant with my son, I had to retire."
It made perfect sense, considering the calluses on her hands. Lessandra got up slowly, but you could see a tremor in her shoulders, which looked like they were about to slump to the floor.
King's eyes widened instantly. He didn't need a system, a goddess, or a tutorial to realize: this was a classic case of trapezius muscles ground to dust from a lifetime of carrying heavy loads.
He jumped up, the chair scraped against the floor, and stretched out his hands as if he were a doctor with years of experience. Technically, some people called him that because of all the things he had done for others in his years working in the industry.
"Relax, babe, I can fix this right away."
Lessandra, confused, took a step back.
"What are you doing?"
King wasn't afraid to get closer, cracking his knuckles as if he were ready to do a maximum-load bench press. Of course, this was just a free sample of his service. Still, any potential client, dream or not, was a potential client.
"Ma'am... you look like someone who's been through some rough times and never stretched. That tremor in your shoulder? Classic. If you don't take care of it, tomorrow you won't even be able to lift the bread from the oven."
Before she could answer, King placed his large hands on her shoulders. His palms began to heat up, radiating a relaxing wave that coursed through the woman's body.
[Skill Unlocked: Miraculous Hands]
[Effect: Your hands work like those of the most expensive sports masseur in the universe. It removes muscle pain, knots, and increases customer satisfaction by 100%!]
[Extra Effect: Passive chance to provoke inappropriate sighs in women over 30.]
"Ah..." Lessandra gasped softly, her eyes half-closed. "O-Oh my heavens..."
[Skill Miraculous Hands activated]
[Muscle pain reduced]
King bit the tip of his tongue, focusing on moving his thumbs in circles and applying the right pressure on her trapezius. At first, it was normal to feel a little pain, which slowly dissolved as that area relaxed.
"Are you feeling it? It's very normal to have pain in these areas over time. The weight on your shoulders makes your muscles stiffen. Without proper stretching, you'll slowly feel more pain until you can't bear it properly."
Lessandra, her face flushed, gripped the arms of the chair to keep from sliding off as her body melted with pleasure.
"It's... it's incredible... I haven't felt this... light... in years."
The system beeped again, showing a new floating screen.
[Title Unlocked: The Lustful Physiotherapist]
[Effect: Any massage on women over 30 instantly increases affinity by +20.]
King smiled, that scoundrel smile that had already broken apart entire families, but which was, unfortunately, just his natural expression.
"Yeah, ma'am... I think the goddess sent me here with a very specific purpose."