Chapter 52. Award Ceremony

Chapter 52. Award Ceremony

Ding-

I opened the dormitory door and stepped inside.

Lumi suddenly became aggressive, which surprised me.

I’m not really in a position to talk, since I got excited because of the mood….

I’m worried that she’ll act like that again. If all the heroines do that, I really won’t be able to handle it….

“Ah! Fuck! Kill it! Kill it! Aaaagh!”

As soon as I entered the living room, Liliana’s voice greeted me from inside her room, cursing violently.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen her stream. It’s nice.

The sound of money duplicating is back.

“Wait a sec! I think the delivery arrived? Smells delicious.”

Sniff sniff.

Liliana opened the door and came out into the living room.

“Hey? I’m back.”

I naturally greeted Liliana.

“Huh? What? I thought it was the delivery, but why is it you?”

“How should I know? I didn’t bring chicken today.”

“That’s weird? I’m sure I smelled something good…”

Sniff sniff.

Are you a dog? Why do you keep sniffing?

I don’t expect you to act like a succubus, but can you at least pretend to be human?

“Wait a sec.”

Liliana, who had been sniffing around, started approaching me.

Then she grabbed my arm and brought it to her nose.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Good smell….”

Ah, right. My body has a sweet scent.

But you’re a succubus, not a dog.

No one else has ever said I smell.

And last time you were fine.

“You were fine when we talked last time.”

“Back then, the chicken smell covered it up. Sniff sniff.”

“….”

A sweet scent that loses to chicken. Is this actually a trash ability?

“It’s because of a skill that makes me smell good. Stop it.”

“That’s such a pervy skill, totally suits you. Oh, right. Can I start following you around again during the day from tomorrow?”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“I decided to live diligently, but if I stay home, I might end up masturbating again.”

Please, choose your words more carefully.

“…If you follow me, you might see me having sex. Won’t that just increase your lust?”

“I-I’m fine, okay? Do you think I’m some beast that gets horny every time I see a woman like you?”

“….”

Just for today, I have no rebuttal.

But I want to blame it all on being the protagonist.

Otherwise, there’s no way an introvert like me would get caught up in the mood while having sex with a girl.

“Fine. Do whatever you want. But don’t make a fuss.”

“Mhm, got it.”

“I’m going to shower and sleep, so do whatever and rest.”

I gave a half-hearted reply and headed to the shower.

Meanwhile, Liliana ended her stream and came out to the living room.

“Mmm. At least I won’t be as bored tomorrow!”

Swoosh-

Using Lee Hoyeon’s shower sound as background noise, she let herself relax on the sofa.

“There’s surprisingly little to do here.”

At first, everything was fascinating. A world full of freshness and novelty…

But this place replicated human society too well.

The media Liliana enjoyed in hell painted human society in such a good light.

The streets were filled with handsome and beautiful people, and even weak demons could easily enslave a human just by catching one.

But reality was different.

There were tons of ugly bastards, and public security was ridiculously strong.

To make matters worse, Liliana’s power had weakened, so she couldn’t do anything on her own.

Fortunately, gaming at home was fun, but that was it.

Even watching dramas, all the actors were ugly. In hell, they used magic to create incredibly handsome and beautiful humans for dramas.

Compared to those memories, most real humans looked like handsome goblins.

“Well, except for one.”

Lee Hoyeon, Liliana’s contractor.

A human more handsome than those created with magic in hell.

Plus, from what she glimpsed, his dick was massive. She even wondered if it could fit inside her.

Liliana stretched her hand out straight and placed it on her stomach. Hmm, no matter how she thought about it, the size didn’t match.

Creak-

Just then, Lee Hoyeon came out of the shower, shaking his damp hair as he walked toward her.

“What are you doing? Done streaming?”

Thump.

Liliana suddenly felt a strange emotion.

“You pervert! Put some clothes on!”

“What? I’m not even fully naked. What’s wrong with walking around shirtless in my own house?”

“I don’t know! I’m going to my room!”

Bang!

Slamming the door, Liliana placed a hand on her chest.

‘What the hell? What’s wrong with me? Am I crazy?’

Lee Hoyeon’s handsome face fresh out of the shower, combined with the sweet scent that filled the air.

At that moment, Liliana felt her heart race.

“Fuck! I’m crazy! That pervert must’ve done something weird to me again! Aaagh!”

Thud thud! She punched the wall beside her in frustration.

“Shut up! Let me sleep, you crazy succubus!”

“Shut up, you pervert!”

It seemed like Liliana wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight either.

*

Today was Professor Im Sol’s mage specialization class.

The theoretical lecture quota was probably complete, so it would likely be a hands-on session with feedback.

- Wow, it’s been ages since I was outside!

“Congratulations. Try to stabilize your mind while enjoying some fresh air.”

- Got it. But what’s with that weird way of speaking? It’s disgusting.

“Yeah. Your speech is even worse.”

With Liliana hanging from my neck, I walked through the campus.

If I went to class at the usual time, there would be too many people to talk to Liliana.

So I arrived a bit early, and the lecture hall was still mostly empty.

Sitting in my usual seat, I observed Liliana.

A silver chain necklace embedded with a red gemstone.

It was quite pretty. Was it because Liliana was beautiful that it looked nice?

I flipped the necklace around, examining it.

- Hey! What are you doing! That’s dizzying!

“You get dizzy if I move this?”

- Not really, but my view moves, dumbass!

“Ah, I see.”

I gently let Liliana hang around my neck.

Now, what should I do? Should I check EveryDay?

“L-Lee Hoyeon!”

“Huh?”

Just then, Lucy approached and called out to me. Behind her, Lumi was standing.

“Here! Take this!”

In Lucy’s outstretched hand was something.

A cute pink glass jar filled with cookies.

“Why cookies?”

“I-I just make them often as a hobby! I made a lot yesterday, so I brought some to share!”

What kind of bullshit is this?

Lucy is the type to run around outside instead of spending time baking cookies at home.

“I’m giving it to you with no special meaning, so just eat it!”

She sparkled her eyes at me as she said that.

- The cookies look really pretty! Save some for me too!

As Liliana said, they do look good on the outside.

I opened the glass jar, took out a cookie, and put it in my mouth.

‘Fuck.’

How does a cookie have an astringent taste? What kind of magic was cast on this?

Lucy was eagerly waiting for my taste evaluation.

I maintained my expression with superhuman patience.

“I-It’s tasty? Whoa! Unexpected, Lucy.”

“Hehe! There’s nothing I can’t do!”

Lucy was obviously delighted.

I thought it might be a prank with intentionally bad cookies, but it seems she genuinely meant well.

‘How inexperienced is she with cooking that she didn’t even taste it herself before bringing it….’

Lucy was rubbing her hands together happily.

Since she’s cute, I’ll let it slide.

Looking closer, I noticed several band-aids on her hands.

I have no idea what she did while baking cookies to end up injured, but at least she put in the effort.

Her eyes were filled with goodwill towards me. Of course, having someone openly express their affection felt nice, but…

Seeing Lucy like this made my conscience prick.

Because behind the happy Lucy, Lumi was licking her lips and smirking at me with a sly smile.

If I get caught, I’m screwed, aren’t I?

*

We gathered at the training ground for the mage specialization class.

“Alright. If everyone’s here, let’s start the practice.”

Im Sol began the lesson with her usual annoyed expression.

I heard that she’s happy to have more research material because of me, but it also means more annoying work for her.

I was planning to visit her today anyway—maybe I should bring her a good idea.

That should lighten her mood a bit.

“Each of you, take a station and start practicing. I’ll go around and check on you one by one.”

Im Sol started giving feedback from the frontmost station.

I took the last station.

The last spot would make it easiest to talk with Professor Im Sol.

“Hmm, your casting is too slow. At that pace, you’d already have a hole in your stomach.”

“S-Sorry!”

The male student being scolded by Im Sol turned red, but he looked happy.

There sure are a lot of weirdos. Getting scolded by a woman and enjoying it?

I turned my gaze back to my own station. Then, I heard a voice from my necklace.

- I think that big-boobed girl is trying to assassinate you. That cookie tasted like poison.

“I told you, it’s not.”

- You tasted it yourself! She doesn’t appreciate you saving her from the demons and is trying to kill you!

“You should try appreciating me for once. Please.”

She must’ve already forgotten that I saved her from those thugs.

Im Sol was still in the front. There was a long way to go before my turn. In the meantime, I needed to practice something.

- But what are you going to practice in a station? Aren’t you a Battle Mage?

“Battle Mage? What’s that?”

- You know, those crazy mages who enhance their bodies to fight.

“Are you calling me crazy?”

But I could understand Liliana’s misunderstanding.

I chose to be a mage to fight safely, but lately, I’ve been engaging in melee combat all the time.

When [Combat Sense] activates, my body moves in the most efficient way, often leading me into close combat.

So far, Felix was the only real threat to my life, but as the story progresses, more crazy bastards will appear.

If I keep acting recklessly, I’ll get impaled on a spear and die.

‘Would raising my magic level solve the problem?’

My magic’s strength is its fast casting speed. Since my mana pool is small, I have to rely on rapid-fire attacks.

So I need to find a skill that complements that.

“Liliana, do you know any effective combat magic from hell?”

- Succubi aren’t a combat-heavy species, so not really. Why do you ask?

She’s consistently useless except for duplicating money.

“I just want to change my combat style. I need a more efficient way to fight from a distance, but nothing comes to mind.”

- How about this? You learned Charm Magic instantly before, so why not just learn more spells and increase your options?

“That’s not a bad idea… but my skill slots are limited, and there’s the issue of proficiency.”

There’s no limit to the number of skills I can have, but the more I learn, the harder it is to acquire new ones.

Plus, skills improve with repeated use.

Even if it’s not visible, my magic strengthens as my proficiency increases.

That’s why it’s better to specialize in one area for maximum efficiency.

This is why I don’t recklessly learn skills.

I save my slots for skills I might need in the future.

- Then what are you going to do? Just keep relying on Battle Magic?

“I told you, I’m not a Battle Mage.”

- Then are you a Spellblade? Those who use Battle Magic while also casting spells?

“What the hell is a Spellblade…? Hm?”

‘Wait, what if I just cast multiple spells at once?’

My spellcasting process is simple.

I recognize the magic circle, extract it with mana, infuse mana into it, and manifest the spell.

It doesn’t require intense focus—I can do it as naturally as breathing.

So theoretically, I should be able to cast two spells simultaneously, right?

“I need to try this.”

Without hesitation, I put my thoughts into action.

On my right hand, a Fireball.

On my left hand, a Fire Spear.

Whoosh—

But soon, the Fire Spear lost its power and crumbled apart.

“It’s not working?”

What’s the problem? The magic circles were formed perfectly.

“What, slacking off instead of practicing? Huh?”

Im Sol’s voice came from behind me.

She was smiling today—must be in a good mood.

“Ah, Professor. I was trying to cast two spells at once, but it’s not working.”

“Double Casting? That’s not easy.”

Im Sol raised her hands, simultaneously conjuring a small vortex and a water droplet.

“Oh! So that’s how it’s done! I didn’t know it was an actual skill.”

“A little tip: You need to precisely allocate the right amount of mana flowing through your body for each spell. Otherwise, the mana will naturally flow into one side, disrupting the magic circle.”

That makes sense. Earlier, I did feel the magic circle suddenly breaking apart—that must’ve been why.

At that moment, I noticed a male student behind Im Sol glaring at me with resentment.

‘She just criticized me and moved on, but why is she giving you such a detailed explanation?!’

Sorry, buddy. Life’s unfair. Get used to it.

“You listening? I’ll teach you Double Casting properly later. It’s a tough skill.”

Im Sol wasn’t even paying attention to anyone else, only speaking to me.

“Thank you. But let me try one more time.”

Now that I knew the trick, I felt like I could do it.

“Double Casting is useful, but difficult. Even I took a long time to—”

Whoosh—!

A Fireball formed in my right hand, and a Fire Spear in my left.

Im Sol stopped mid-sentence, staring at my hands in shock.

“Professor, you really are the best magic instructor. I’ll come to you more often.”

Things that seemed impossible before just clicked into place with one of her explanations. How could I not be grateful?

Plus, not only does she teach magic, but she even educates me on… other things.

Truly, she’s a top-tier instructor of this era.

“Huh? Wha—? You actually did it?!”

“All thanks to you, Professor. I appreciate it.”

“Hmm… Yeah. You should at least be at this level before you start asking me for favors.”

Im Sol quickly regained her usual energy despite being briefly dumbfounded.

Lately, she’s been making comments like that more often—it’s kind of scary.

“Oh, and can I visit you after class today? I have a good research idea.”

“Sure. Oh, right. You know tomorrow’s the award ceremony, right?”

“Huh? Award ceremony?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow morning at Victoria Academy’s main auditorium, you and Lucy are receiving an award.”

Wait, the award ceremony is tomorrow, and you’re just now telling me?

Chapter end