A knock at the door suddenly interrupts them both, and a woman's voice calls out: "Hello? Is anyone here? I was told a shaman works at this address..."
[QUEST GENERATED]
[Tutorial Quest: First Steps]
- Seduce a woman and gain your first Essence Points (0/1)
- Reward: 10 EP, Shop Access Unlocked
- Failure Penalty: Death
Minho stared at the new interface, then at Miss Gumiho who gestured at the door with a tilt of her neck.
"This is insane. I'm not some—I can't just—" Minho firmly refuted as he understood what her quest was implying at. He wasn't some Casanova and has never even asked a woman out, and she expected him to seduce a random client looking for his grandmother.
Though the essence point required to complete the quest seemed little—1, the fact that Minho has never done this before remained unchanged as he had no idea whatsoever on how to even go about it.
"Make. It. Work." The voice of the Gumiho echoed in his head and he realized she was gone.
Minho slowly stood up and dusted his clothes, before stepping out of the storage closet and headed out to the entrance of the building. Exhaling slowly, he opened the door.
A woman who looked to be in her late twenties stood there in uncertainty—expensive clothes, designer bag, diamond wedding ring. Beautiful and clearly wealthy.
[Potential subject identified - Yuna Park]
The system prompt flashed over Yuna's head on his vision.
Yuna fidgeted nervously, "I'm sorry to intrude. A friend told me a powerful shaman worked here. I'm... I'm in need of spiritual guidance." She spoke with a soft voice.
Minho stood at the entrance unceremoniously, battling internally with himself on how to go about the quest still blinking on his vision as a reminder. Yuna was clearly wealthy, and married. Which meant Minho could be spending a lengthy period in jail if he were to do anything she considered inappropriate.
But on the other hand, if he failed to meet the quest criteria, he would die. The cold stare of the Gumiho fixated on his back from the shadows a harsh reminder to that.
Minho was deeply conflicted. But from the moment he stood up to open the door, he had already made up his mind on what to do.
Ignoring the cold stare of the Gumiho in the shadows, he finally opened his mouth to speak after a staring contest with Yuna who at the same time opened her mouth to speak after the he had remained silent for far too long.
"I'm sorry, I'm not—"
"I have money," she interrupted, pulling out stacks of cash in clean notes from her bag and waving them at Minho like they didn't measure up to his lifetime savings goals. "I can pay well if you're legitimate." She quickly added.
Minho saw the money and paused, something shifting inside him. He's been broke for years. One job after another falling through. Living on instant noodles. And here was a rich woman offering him more money than he's made in months.
"…"
But there were just some limits to certain things people were unwilling to cross no matter what.
Minho made his choice.
"The spirits have been… restless today. I believe they were expecting you." He adopted his grandmother's formal tone, gesturing to the shamanic setup. "Please, come in."
He was clearly not one of those people with limits.
Minho had no idea what he was doing, but mimicked what he remembered of his grandmother's rituals.
He guided Yuna to sit on the floor pillow at the center of the room, then went ahead to light a few incense and candles all around the room, and adorned himself with one of the traditional robes hanging in a corner that had a belt made up of a thin lace and miniature bells.
He began dancing around the room and around the nervous Yuna on one foot while humming a tone from his favourite soundtrack, but manipulating in a way that it sounded ominous.
'What are you doing?' the voice of the Gumiho suddenly rang his head.
'What does it look like I'm doing? I'm summoning the spirits of course,' Minho replied in his head as he kept dancing around Yuna, uncertain Miss Gumiho could hear his thoughts.
'Your grandmother never did that on consultations without knowing why the client was there yet,' the Gumiho's voice rang in his head again, assuring him they could communicate leisurely. 'And you've danced for far too long. At this point she might just pick her bag and walk out.'
Minho took the cue and stopped dancing, beads of sweats glistening on his forehead as he sat opposite Yuna who shifted on the floor pillow nervously.
[Skill Available:
Cost: 5 Spirit
Make physical contact to read target's recent surface memories
The system prompt appeared on his vision, drawing a subtle smile from him as his job has just been made ten times easier if the skill really meant what he thought it was and was self-explanatory.
Minho remembered his Spirit stat was 10 from when he ran his eyes through his status earlier. Which meant he could use the skill twice before he was exhausted—if the Divinity System rules were also similar to that of MMORPGS.
"Give me your hands, child," Minho told Yuna as he reached for her hands under the guise of 'reading her energy.' But the moment they touched, the skill activated and Yuna's surface memories flooded his mind:
*Her husband, Junho Park, is running for mayor. She's terrified he'll lose. Their marriage is cold—he's always working, always distant. She came to ask if he'll win the election. She's desperate for his success, believing it might bring them closer. She's lonely.*
Minho gasped as he released her hands. The information swimming in his mind like he'd lived those moments of her.
Minho was pleasantly surprised. Yuna Park was legit the wife to one of the mayoral candidates, Junho Park, for the upcoming election in a few weeks time.
Big fish.
He could remember her mentioning earlier that someone—a friend—had directed her here. Possibly one of his grandmother's regular clients, that made him wonder just how big of a name she'd made for herself and her possible connection.
If not for the fact that she gave everything to the charity, Minho was certain he should've grown into a rich spoilt brat.
Thinking about it now, he didn't find the Shamanic occupation so mid and uncalled for now. Thinking about all the opportunities—with his grandmother's contact—maybe, just maybe being a shaman was his calling all along, hehe.
"Your husband... he seeks a position of power. But your heart seeks something else. Connection. Recognition. You wonder if his success will finally make him see you." Minho confidently said to her with the power information he now had in his grasp.
Yuna's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you—"
"The spirits speak clearly about you, Mrs. Park." Minho interrupted, activating the
He confidence had been boosted, and his fears of what might go wrong now a distant thought at the back of his mind. Minho decided to take a bolder step, activating the
Yuna's breathing quickened slightly and her pupils dilated. She didn't understand why, but as she stared at the mysterious, handsome shaman now, she oddly felt drawn him.
[Subject Added: Yuna Park]
Affection Score: 0% n' 5% | Essence gained: +5
ESSENCE GAUGE: 0.05% [0005 / 9999]
[TUTORIAL QUEST COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY]
[+10 ESSENCE POINTS GAINED]
[SHOP FEATURE UNLOCKED]