Chapter 49. The Protagonist Hides His Power?

Chapter 49. The Protagonist Hides His Power?

“Sob…”

“Wait a second, Liliana. I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

If she just cussed at me, I could handle it, but I had no idea how to deal with her crying.

What should I do? I decided to offer her the chicken I brought.

“Do you want to eat this?”

“Get lost! I’m not eating anything you give me! Sob!”

Didn’t work.

She was crying so sorrowfully that I started feeling like a total piece of trash.

But wait—she was the one acting suspicious, and now that she got caught, she just started crying?

This was the classic mindset of a criminal.

Was this really my fault?

“Why?! Why did you summon me and make me like this?! I was doing fine on my own! None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you! Why are you looking at me like that after turning me into a pervert?!”

Liliana sobbed as she yelled.

Sigh.

“You always call me a pervert too.”

“That’s because you ARE a perverted bastard! But why are you dragging me into this too, you freak?!”

Ah, damn it. What does she want from me?

I was about to say, “You’re the real pervert for fingering yourself nonstop for three days,” but I held back. That would only make things worse.

Fine. Let’s just get through this situation first.

“Oh, that’s it!”

“Sniff…?”

I dramatically reacted like a scientist having a eureka moment.

Liliana paused her crying and looked at me with interest.

“Maybe it’s because I’m a pervert that your libido suddenly skyrocketed! It’s not actually your fault!”

“…Sniff?”

And so, I began my nonsense explanation to comfort Liliana.

“Think about it. You’re usually so pure, so why would this suddenly happen? It’s all because of me.”

“...Yeah! That’s right! It’s all your fault, you perverted bastard!”

“...Yeah. My bad.”

“You filthy parasite! Incubus-spawned freak!”

Liliana mulled it over and seemed to find my explanation somewhat convincing.

Delighted to have found an excuse, she returned to insulting me with a much better mood.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all my fault. Now eat some chicken and calm down.”

“Fine. But don’t come near me or I might catch your perverted disease.”

“…Yeah. Do whatever you want.”

Liliana finally looked relieved as she started munching on the chicken.

Thank goodness she was such a simple succubus.

But seriously, why did she suddenly become like this?

For a woman with no interest in sex to spend three days straight lost in masturbation… what could have caused that?

“Sigh, I figured out the cause, but my situation is still serious.”

“What’s so serious?”

Liliana asked as she continued eating.

“What do you mean?! Because of you, my libido keeps rising! It’s obviously your fault, so take responsibility!”

“How exactly should I take responsibility? Want me to act as a living dildo?”

Seeing Liliana finally trying to be helpful in a way other than making money filled me with pride.

This is what a summoned succubus is supposed to do!

“Y-You crazy bastard!”

Smack! Smack!

“Why are you hitting me?! You asked for help!”

“Because you’re talking nonsense! Find a real solution, idiot!”

If sex isn’t the answer to dealing with libido, then what is?

“Fine. I’ll look for a solution.”

I figured she’d only calm down if I at least pretended to take her request seriously.

“Aren’t there any human remedies for dealing with excessive libido?”

“I don’t know if you’d call it a remedy, but most people either exercise or immerse themselves in work to forget about it.”

“Mmm… That’s true. Maybe because I kept giving in to my urges, I lost control over them…”

Watching Liliana mumble such embarrassing words to herself, I sighed.

No, you’re just a pervert.

“Alright. From now on, no more masturbation. Just focus on exercising and streaming to distract yourself. Liliana, fighting!”

“Yeah! Fighting!”

I had a feeling this motivation wouldn’t last long.

I just hoped things wouldn’t escalate beyond my ability to handle.

“Sigh. What a terrible morning.”

It was Monday, the day to return to the academy.

I should’ve used the weekend to rest, but I was too busy running around, and now I was exhausted.

“You okay? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine. Just tired from a busy weekend.”

“I’m really curious about what happened on Friday since you skipped class. What happened with the demons? Did you make up with everyone?”

Since I had no way of contacting Kim Younghan, he was still in the dark about what had happened.

But I wasn’t about to ask for another guy’s number. Judging by how he didn’t bring it up either, it seemed we both felt the same way.

Chatting with Kim Younghan, I arrived at the first-year classroom building.

He naturally went off to his friends while I headed toward Lucy and Lumi.

A friend who clearly knew how to separate work and personal life.

In the corner of the classroom, as always, Do Jinhyuk’s gang sat together, laughing amongst themselves like a bunch of losers.

Tsk, tsk.

“Good morning.”

I naturally took my seat behind Lucy and greeted them.

“Hey.”

“Good morning, Hoyeon.”

The two turned around and returned my greeting.

Lucy was wearing a cardigan over her uniform, trying to cover up her body as much as possible.

With breasts as large as hers, failing to cover the middle actually made her look even sexier—but she didn’t seem to realize that.

Lumi always dressed neatly in her cadet uniform.

But school uniforms were inherently erotic.

To me, the cadet uniform was no different from cosplay, making it a constant delight for my eyes.

And now that Lumi and I had become “secret friends” over the weekend, even just making eye contact sent a tingle between my legs.

Lumi seemed to feel the same, as she returned my smile with a subtle one of her own.

“What’s with you two? What’s with the eye contact?”

Lucy leaned forward, staring directly at my face.

‘What’s up with her?’

Bzzzz—

She was staring at me like she was about to shoot lasers from her eyes. I didn’t know how to react, so I just smiled at her.

Lucy, seeing my face, smirked in satisfaction and turned back around.

“...?”

Was she just waiting for me to smile back? Why was she acting like a kid?

★ Heroine Status Window

[Lucy]

- [ Affection: 92 ]

- [ Lust: 40 ]

- [ Appetite: 30 ]

- [ Fatigue: 25 ]

Current Status: Hehehe. He’s handsome.

I had raised Lucy’s affection, but now I wasn’t sure what to do next.

If I confessed and we started dating, I’d clear her route, but I couldn’t date anyone yet.

So I had to find another approach…

‘Is there a way to raise her libido?’

Her affection was already high, so that seemed like the easiest way to progress.

“The professor is a little late today.”

“Isn’t it one-on-one sparring today? Finally, it’s time to get revenge for last time!”

Lucy clenched her fists with determination. She really wanted to fight.

“You want to spar with me?”

“Yeah! I lost last time, so I’m going to win this time!”

It didn’t really matter who I fought. Individual duels weren’t a graded part of our performance.

If Lucy wanted to, I didn’t mind.

Or should I tease her a bit? She liked bad boys, after all.

Time for a little push and pull.

“Hmm, I’ll think about it.”

“Ah, why?!”

“I’ll just watch you two…”

Sparring was part of class, but it wasn’t mandatory. If you didn’t want to participate, you could decline.

Any cadet seriously aiming to be a Hunter wouldn’t refuse, since chances to go all-out safely were rare, but Lumi was a support type, so she never liked these duels.

“Everyone, gather at the training grounds by 10!”

A bespectacled male student called out the announcement from the doorway.

With only a few minutes left, cadets started moving toward the training hall.

“Let’s go ahead and wait there.”

“Okay.”

“Alright.”

The three of us stood up and followed the group.

At the training hall, our instructor, Kim Jinhyuk, was waiting.

“Now that everyone is here, I’ll keep this brief. Today’s class will be self-directed. Pair up and test each other’s abilities. If you want to engage in serious dueling, step onto the arena. That’s all.”

With that, Kim Jinhyuk ended his announcement, and the cadets began pairing up for sparring.

Many were heading up to the dueling stage. This was one of the few chances they had to test their full strength in a safe environment.

A perfect time to gauge one’s real ability.

“C’mon, let’s go up!”

“Hmm, should I…?”

“What’s there to think about?! You don’t even have friends to spar with!”

“....”

I mean, I was busy working on heroine routes—who had time to make friends?

Fine, I’ll stop teasing her and just fight already.

“Alright, alright. I’m going up.”

“Hey. Lee Hoyeon.”

“?”

That wasn’t Lucy’s voice. It was a male voice calling my name, so I turned around.

A scrawny-looking guy was standing there.

“Wanna spar with me?”

The guy had an angry expression as he challenged me to a duel.

Who was this?

Oh, I remembered.

One of Do Jinhyuk’s lackeys.

He was the one who tried to shoulder-bump me and pick a fight during the last dungeon training, only to get humiliated and nearly draw his weapon.

I didn’t get to meet him last time because Nam Daeun cleared the dungeon too fast.

A pity—I didn’t get to land a spell on his face.

“Hey, he’s sparring with me. Get lost.”

Lucy cut him off with a sharp dismissal.

If Lucy didn’t want to give up her spot, I couldn’t help it. She was more important than some lackey.

“You heard her. Come back later.”

“Hah. Don’t you feel ashamed walking around with another fraud?”

“What?”

The way he was glaring at me made it clear he was talking about me, but what rumor was he referring to?

Was this the classic protagonist’s curse?

“You really don’t know? You cadets who claim to have taken down a two-horned demon. Obviously, Professor Im Sol handled the demon while you guys stood back and watched.”

“?????”

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even find words to refute it.

How the hell did that rumor start? I was the one who took down Felix!

“…Where did that bullshit come from?”

My voice lowered on its own.

The guy flinched slightly but, regaining his pride, glared at me again.

“Everyone who matters already knows. They call it ‘Victoria Academy’s Star-Making Scheme.’”

“Bullshit.”

I was going to lose my mind.

The surrounding cadets turned their attention to us. Judging by their curiosity, this rumor was really making the rounds.

Goddamn it. My head hurt.

Judging by Lucy and Lumi’s unchanged expressions, they must have already known about this.

‘But why aren’t they saying anything?’

Especially Lucy. She wasn’t the type to stay quiet about things like this.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Lucy]

- [ Affection: 92 ]

- [ Lust: 40 ]

- [ Appetite: 30 ]

- [ Fatigue: 25 ]

Current Status: Hold it in. Don’t overreact and make a mistake again.

Wait… You were there too. Ah?

Come to think of it, Lucy never actually saw me take down Felix.

At the time, she was lying down, entranced by that arousal spell.

Given that she doesn’t even remember us having sex, she probably has no memory from the moment Felix got ambushed onward.

She wants to trust me as a friend, but she might not be entirely sure what’s true and what isn’t.

“Hoyeon, let’s just ignore him and go.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s just ignore it.”

Lucy and Lumi wanted to brush it off.

They were probably trying to be considerate of me.

After all, even they weren’t completely convinced I had actually killed the demon.

To be fair, it did sound ridiculous—a cadet taking down a two-horned demon.

A two-horned demon was at least on par with an active B-rank Hunter.

The gap in skill between cadets and that level was massive.

Plus, the only witness, Professor Im Sol, was notorious for not caring about other people’s affairs.

Even if she had taken down the demon herself and the academy had falsely credited me, she seemed like the type who wouldn’t bother correcting it.

That’s why rumors like this spread.

But seriously, I was the one who killed him, damn it.

“Just look at you—a pretty-boy parasite hanging around those unevenly developed twins. The whole thing is obviously a publicity stunt.”

“...Forget it. It’s not the first time. Let’s just go.”

Lucy’s personality had softened way too much.

She was even more subdued than in the original story. At this point, she wasn’t just calmer—she was becoming a pushover.

This was my fault for making her experience the Felix incident.

She wasn’t showing it, but she might have some trauma from it.

If she was willing to let blatant harassment slide, it meant she just didn’t want to create trouble.

But this wasn’t right. Sometimes, you needed to fight back.

As I hardened my expression and glared at the scrawny guy, Lucy grabbed my arm.

“Hoyeon! Just let it go!”

Why was she so worried?

It wasn’t like I was going to lose or anything.

----------------------

- [Lee Hoyeon]

▶ Strength: 40

▶ Stamina: 44

▶ Agility: 39

▶ Durability: 38

▶ Magic Power: 48

- Unique Ability: Combat Sense

- Skills: Clairvoyance

- ???: ???

----------------------

Through steady training and quest rewards, I had raised my stats to the average cadet level.

On top of that, I had my perks: [Combat Sense], [Mana Sensitivity], and my powerful unique skills, Clairvoyance, Cotton Guard, and Acceleration. Plus, I had recently taken down Felix…

‘Huh?’

…Wait, am I the only one who knows all this?

Now that I think about it, no one else knows how strong I’ve gotten.

The only real demonstration I gave was during the live combat class when I fought monsters. Even though I reached level 7, level 7 was only A-class average.

And since I climbed up from level 5, people might think I barely made it to average from the bottom.

Then I beat Lucy in a duel, but all I really did was dodge her spells—I didn’t show much offense.

During the dungeon training, I participated a little, but for the most part, I just followed Nam Daeun around.

…Why does my record look so weak?

I’ve been working hard, but it turns out I’ve just been flirting with girls. At the academy, I’m a total nobody!

The only person who knew about my rapidly improving magic skills was Professor Im Sol.

And yet, out of nowhere, an article came out saying a cadet had taken down a two-horned demon. A cadet who also happened to be ridiculously good-looking. And the only witness was Professor Im Sol.

If it had been another professor, they might have done interviews and provided testimony to boost credibility, but knowing how much Im Sol hates extra work, she probably rejected all of it.

That meant the reliability of the witness was low.

‘…If I heard this as an outsider, I’d probably think it was a cover-up too.’

My thoughts connected naturally.

“Huh?”

Then… did everyone here…

Think I was actually weak?

Lucy and Lumi were only trying to walk away because they thought I was too weak to fight?

“....”

The twins’ expressions wavered with uncertainty.

‘No, seriously. I’m strong, guys.’

I mean, fine. They had reasons to be worried.

Maybe this scrawny guy was actually one of the stronger cadets.

If Lucy and Lumi were this uneasy, there was a good chance he wasn’t weak.

But this situation actually worked in my favor.

No matter how many times I told people I killed the demon, they wouldn’t feel it unless they saw it firsthand.

On the other hand, these cadets had been living with this scrawny guy and likely experienced his strength personally.

If I absolutely wrecked him in a duel, they would realize instantly.

‘Oh, shit. This guy is way stronger than I thought. I shouldn’t mess with him.’

People feared the goblin lurking in the hills behind their home more than the demon king across the continent.

Conclusion:

I just needed to beat this guy to a pulp.

“Hey, you. Get up to the training stage.”

I glanced at the scrawny guy and walked up to the dueling arena.

Chapter end