07. I Want to Date Even If I Have Hypnosis Powers (3)

The bar consisted entirely of rooms, except for a small counter.

Juha-ssi told me not to worry, as the walls seemed quite thick, each room had a door lock, and most importantly, there were no CCTVs inside.

Stepping inside, it felt less like a bar and more like a luxurious glamping trip, with everything you’d find in a hotel room except for the bed: a TV, sofa, and table.

“These kinds of bars are trending these days! Is it okay, Jihoo-gun?”

“Oh, the atmosphere is nice.”

From my perspective, as long as there was a space where we could talk, it was fine, so the rather luxurious atmosphere felt a bit unfamiliar. Still, I figured I’d never come to a place like this alone, so I decided to consider it a good experience.

We ordered food like room service, using the phone to order from the menu on the table, choosing a few things here and there.

Until the food arrived, there wasn’t much to do, so I thought we’d start with some beer.

I opened the fridge, took out two cans of beer, and handed one to Juha-ssi.

“Cheers.”

It was cheap beer that didn’t quite match the hotel-like atmosphere, but it had its own charm.

At first, I only intended to wet my whistle, but as the alcohol kicked in, we started sharing stories we hadn’t told earlier and revealing our inner thoughts one by one.

“So… I really didn’t think at all back then. What I said to you was probably unconscious,” she said.

Whether she was still bothered by what happened during our first meeting, a tipsy Juha-ssi kept repeating her feelings from that time while munching on snacks.

She’d only had two cans of beer, but she seemed on the verge of blacking out, which showed how little she could handle alcohol.

“I’m going to the restroom for a bit.”

“Eung, bring me a glass of water when you come back…”

I was starting to feel tipsy, and I’d heard her drunken honesty, so it was time to execute the planned hypnosis.

Of course, checking her profile was the first step before hypnosis, so I pretended to go to the restroom and activated the character management function in the hallway.

‘After this much conversation, her profile should be open,’ I thought, tapping her icon. But Seo Juha-ssi’s profile remained silent with a lock icon.

“What’s the problem?”

The profile function in character management requires specific information for each character to unlock.

The system hadn’t directly told me, but considering what happened with Yoo Seol-ah, it was clear that at least ‘specific information about that heroine’ was needed to unlock the profile.

That was why I had been constantly talking to Seo Juha-ssi during our date at first.

Of course, later on, I found it fun to talk to her, and I lost track of time chatting…

I thought I had learned enough about Seo Juha-ssi’s personality through our conversations, but it seemed the system still wanted something more.

A secret she couldn’t tell even when heavily drunk, or perhaps something hidden that even she didn’t know?

I figured she might worry if I took too long, so I grabbed the bottled water Juha-ssi had asked for and returned to the room.

She must have kept drinking after I left, because she was already close to being completely drunk, with her face buried on the table.

“Heueu… No way…”

She was mumbling incomprehensible words, as if having a nightmare, so I pressed the cold water bottle against her cheek.

“Heuat?!”

Cold is the best way to wake someone up, after all.

If she fell asleep completely, I wouldn’t be able to hypnotize her, so I needed to sober her up a bit.

“You really can’t handle alcohol… You can’t sleep here, go home and sleep.”

“Eueum… sleepy…”

I thought she would really fall asleep if I left her like this, so I had no choice but to use hypnosis for now.

Not hypnosis related to emotions like love or happiness, but purely to sober her up from the alcohol.

“[For 30 minutes, your mind will be clear, then return to its original state.]”

It wasn’t permanently messing with her mind, but a temporary awakening effect, so the suggestion had to be properly implanted.

However, when I pressed the button, a strong spark flew, and a message appeared on the screen that I had never seen before.

[This target cannot be affected by hypnosis.]

What, I can’t apply hypnosis?

I pressed the button a few more times, trying actions like ‘clap your hands’ and ‘yawn,’ but the same message kept appearing.

In other words, it wasn’t that hypnosis wasn’t working well, or that it failed due to mental strength, but that application itself was impossible.

“No way, is she some kind of divine being?”

I briefly considered such an absurd possibility, but it couldn’t be.

In the original story, Seo Juha-ssi spent sweet time with Goryushin and was rescued with difficulty after being retired during the final battle.

I didn’t know exactly why hypnosis was blocked right now, but I could at least understand one thing.

The ‘special information’ blocking Seo Juha-ssi’s profile meant her identity.

Just in case, I glanced at Seo Juha-ssi’s body, which was almost asleep, but there was nothing particularly suspicious.

Just a small stature, shimmering silver hair, and a cute face with closed eyes.

“What am I supposed to do now? Hooo…”

I felt like everything I had planned had fallen apart in an instant.

Even if I managed to gain some rational favor, it was uncertain whether that favor would be a stepping stone for future meetings.

If she treated today’s events as just a happening, if she felt embarrassed and didn’t want to meet again…

Seo Juha-ssi, whom I thought was the only easy target in the difficult quest of three people within 30 days, had become a huge obstacle.

For now, I should take her home and focus on Yoo Seol-ah first from next week.

Because Seo Juha-ssi got drunk sooner than expected, the bar bill wasn’t as high as I thought.

As I carried her on my back, paid the bill, and came outside, Juha-ssi, who seemed to have regained some consciousness, said softly from behind.

“I, I fell asleep again… Sorry, Jihoo-ya.”

“It’s okay, you said you’re not good with alcohol. You live in the residential area too, right? I’ll take you home.”

“Thank you… Why do I lose my mind when I drink? Hiing…”

I was annoyed by the unexpected variable, but hearing her aegyo made me feel less angry.

No matter how determined I was, I was just a human after all.

The warm heat from her back made me forget the cold night air hitting my face.

Walking along the street lined with soft lights, I thought about my future plans.

Since things had turned out this way today, I had no choice but to target another heroine first.

Assuming that Seo Juha-ssi’s identity was ‘someone who can’t be hypnotized,’ I thought that a forced approach could backfire.

At least until she came to me again, or until information about her was revealed, I would suspend targeting Seo Juha-ssi for the time being.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t investigate her identity.

After taking her home as she directed, I returned to my place and immediately started searching the internet on my computer.

“I’m sure the search term was Ab something…”

With my current abilities, I definitely couldn’t find out information on my own.

Even if I had read the novel to death and memorized the world settings, this world had far more secrets than I knew.

Even with Seo Juha-ssi, there was no reason for her to be hypnotized in the original story, so I didn’t even know such a message existed until just now.

“Ah, found it. Abruptum.”

So I decided to use this world more actively.

‘Abruptum,’ a site known as a type of deep web in the story, was a site where high-quality information that ordinary people couldn’t easily access was traded.

I had even briefly forgotten that this site existed until yesterday…

In the original story, Goryushin obtained an invitation code, accessed the site, extracted only the necessary information, and never entered it again. But right now, I needed information more than anything.

If I could get even a little clue about Seo Juha-ssi’s identity… I was willing to pay for expensive information.

On the screen where the window prompting me to enter the code was flashing, I entered the Goryushin’s code that I remembered and pressed enter.

Soon, the monitor seemed to go dark, and then countless strings of characters began to fill the screen.