07. I Want to Date Even If I Have Hypnosis Powers (4)

Honestly, until now, I’d never really thought about needing information.

Lee Hayul, Yoo Seol-ah, and if I had to include them, Siana Flata too.

The heroines I’d captured, or even just gotten intimate with, I’d conquered solely with my own power.

I’d just have a few conversations to get information, build a relationship, and then use hypnosis to have sex. That was all I needed.

Regardless of my pathetic stats, the power of hypnosis was undeniable.

But now, hypnosis itself wasn’t working.

This situation, which I’d never seen in the original story, was something I couldn’t easily judge. In the end, I had to solve it by gathering information about this world.

“Damn, it’s ridiculously expensive…”

Abruptum was a strict membership system, accessible only through unique codes, and even after joining, you had to pay a hefty fee to access specific information.

What I was looking for was [Scope of Application for Mental Interference].

Even if only 0.1% of the nearly ten billion people were Awakened, that’s still over a million people. There had to be someone with abilities similar to mine.

Especially with abilities like mental interference, which sound like they’re already halfway into the dark side, it would be strange if there wasn’t any related information.

“Found it.”

After combining a few keywords, I quickly got results.

Among the dozens of posts, I clicked on the one with the most purchases.

Five million won to read a single post was definitely a burden, but considering the effort and work it would take to get the information myself, I could justify it.

[Efficacy and Limitations of Mental Interference: Focusing on Practical Experience]

I am an Awakened who is currently running a small business after retirement.

When I was active, I often had to use my abilities on other Awakened, and in the process, I was able to clearly identify the limitations of mental interference, which others may not be aware of.

Of course, the limitations of an ability are proportional to the individual’s strength, so there may be individual differences, but I have a record of treating PTSD in over 600 Awakened through mental interference, so I expect most of it to be accurate.

…

After a lengthy explanation of how he obtained this information, the content continued with records of the situations he experienced.

However, there were only records like ‘the mental wave bounced back’ or ‘the mental wave was completely absorbed,’ and there were no cases similar to what I experienced, even after examining the document to the end.

“Seo Ju-ha… what the hell are you?”

Without any other choice, I posted a question on the bulletin board, turned off the computer, and buried my head in the pillow.

Even though I didn’t drink much, I felt a bit tipsy, which meant my head was probably quite complicated.

But even when I closed my eyes in bed, I couldn’t fall asleep, so I ended up worrying for a long time.

Then, a sharp thought flashed through my mind.

“Is she some kind of monster… wait a minute.”

A hypothesis I hadn’t considered at all just popped up.

Mental waves that affect the human brain can’t be applied to monsters in the first place.

If she was a monster hiding her identity, she wouldn’t even be able to enter the academy, so I initially thought it was absurd. But I forgot that there was one monster that could perfectly disguise itself as a human.

“Cloaker…”

A demonic race that lives by parasitizing others, possessing vast magical power.

A demonic race that directly permeates the cells of an Awakened, completely changing their constitution.

[The biggest criterion for distinguishing a Cloaker will be the change in hair color due to the high concentration of magical power.]

The sentence from the report I had painstakingly written suddenly came to mind vividly.

Seo Ju-ha’s hair was unmistakably silver, noticeable to anyone.

In the end, I stayed up all night.

Tragically, all the evidence so far was supporting the shocking hypothesis I didn’t want to imagine.

When did Seo Ju-ha get parasitized by a Cloaker?

Does she even know that she’s experienced such a thing?

Thinking there might be some kind of error, I looked at Seo Ju-ha’s profile again, which I had opened all night.

But the cold machine only reflected the harsh reality.

[Character Profile]

Name: Seo Ju-ha

Age: 20

Tags: Subjugation, Half-Human Half-Demon

Status Condition: Greed

[TIP: Hypnosis doesn’t work? Don’t worry. You can do it!]

The tags Half-Human Half-Demon and Subjugation meant that she was no longer a pure human.

With the Cloaker’s magical power imbued in every cell, she can no longer return to the way she was before being subjugated.

The only good thing is that her memories and mind are intact.

This is possible because the Cloaker is able to blend perfectly into humans, even among parasitic monsters.

Like a parasitic crustacean that parasitizes fish and replaces the host’s tongue, the Cloaker mainly replaces the cells where the Awakened’s magical power is manifested.

If it were a monster that didn’t consider the host’s life at all, like a Chestburster, Seo Ju-ha might not even be in this world anymore.

“Hoo… this is driving me crazy.”

But just because her condition is relatively intact doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about.

I didn’t know when the small deviations from the original story would turn into a huge typhoon and overwhelm me.

Even the [Demon Extermination Plan] that would take place about six months later could be a major threat to me.

This large-scale operation, which Goryushin would also participate in for a while, was a plan to massacre not only hostile demons but also friendly demons hiding in human society, regardless of friend or foe.

In the original story, the heroines passed through without any danger, but with the axis of events already shifted, would the events really pass safely as in the original?

No, absolutely not.

“Even Ryushin awakened later than in the original…”

I still don’t know the exact reason why Goryushin awakened his stigma.

But I could be sure that Goryushin, who participated in the extermination plan to kill the demon that attacked Lee Hayul in the original story, would somehow participate in the operation for a different reason in the changed development.

If he, who had been deprived of the heroine who should have been there because of me, noticed Seo Ju-ha’s identity…

I don’t even want to imagine what would happen next.

In the end, I have to choose one thing.

Whether to embrace her knowing Seo Ju-ha’s identity, or to ignore her and find another heroine to capture.

“Seriously, this is so damn tiring…”

Even though it was almost time to go to school, I was still sitting in my seat, pondering, and ended up dozing off.

This is what happens when I stay up all night, staying up…

Ah.

That’s right.

“I did stay up all night.”

Why did I think about her so much that I stayed up all night?

What was the reason why I tried not to believe it until the end, even though I had checked Seo Ju-ha’s identity dozens, hundreds of times?

I might have already fallen for her.

Whether Seo Ju-ha is human or not, she is ultimately a heroine of [Academy’s Copycat].

And I had a duty to steal the heroine.

Because I am the [Extra Villain] of the academy.

Of course, if I’m a villain, I have to capture at least one heroine with a difficulty level where even hypnosis doesn’t work to save face.

Okay. The goal is set.

Starting today, I will definitely capture Seo Ju-ha within 30 days.

I want to see Seo Ju-ha completely infatuated with me, even without the help of hypnosis.

I want to go on another date with her and see her bright smile.

Even with hypnosis… I want to date.

Well, there’s no helping it then, what can I do?