1 – The Succubus Empress Takes Out a Suit

“Welcome.”

With the weary and bored voice of the convenience store clerk as background music, I headed to the refrigerator.

Oh dear, it must be the time when the night shift worker starts to hate all the customers who come in.

I did come late.

But well, that’s what convenience stores are for.

And it’s not like I can easily wander around in broad daylight either.

Anyway, what should I eat today?

It’s not that I dislike carbonation, but the fizz that stings the mouth and throat is a bit too stimulating.

Succubi are generally sensitive to physical sensations, including minor ones, so they easily feel ‘good.’

Especially as the Succubus Empress, my senses are even more heightened, making it difficult to choose a drink.

No, it’s not like I feel ‘good’ just from drinking carbonation, but if I feel that kind of stimulation when I’m trying to quietly appreciate the night sky, it kind of ruins the mood.

‘Should I just go for something that goes down smoothly?’

I thought about getting an ion drink, but those have a pretty high sugar content these days…

Then, a new product caught my eye.

[(New!) Strawberry Flavored Protein Drink]

Oh.

The sweetness of a protein drink would be just right.

It’s called chocolate or strawberry flavored, but when you actually drink it, it’s not as sweet as real chocolate milk.

And it goes down smoothly like yogurt.

Hmm, yes, yogurt.

Good. Yes.

I grabbed all the strawberry-flavored protein drinks from the fresh food shelf.

Plus, it’s 2+1. I’m lucky today.

I also grabbed a snack to eat with it.

Crackers with a sea shrimp on the package.

Somehow, it feels familiar.

I used to eat these often before I became this body, I wonder if they taste the same?

I gathered my things and went to the checkout counter, the clerk didn’t even make eye contact with me, mechanically bowing and scanning the barcodes.

“Yes, that’ll be 7200 won…”

Hearing the clerk’s still tired and weary voice, I almost felt the same fatigue.

Oh dear, they look very tired.

“Hunter Pay, is that possible?”

“Ah, yes… Oh, you’re a Hunter. You can scan your fingerprint here for Hunter Pay… Ah.”

Only then did the clerk’s eyes meet mine, and they froze.

And I felt the essence.

Its foundation was admiration, fondness, curiosity, affection, and an intense impulse. The color of the impulse was the scarlet of lust.

Oh, dear.

I wasn’t planning on having a meal at all…

“Are you alright?”

“…Ah. Yes, yes!”

The clerk seemed to snap out of it at my voice, their face looking like all the fatigue had disappeared.

For a Succubus, essence is basically obtained through physical contact.

To be precise, it’s primarily obtained through sexual intercourse, but the way I absorb essence isn’t limited to that. I can absorb all intense emotions that others have towards me, including fondness, popularity, love, awe, admiration, joy, and even hatred.

Because of this, if I were to expose my face openly, I would literally overeat to the point of bursting.

No matter how much someone likes chicken, can they eat only chicken for every meal, 365 days a year?

If you eat like that, you’re bound to get indigestion.

It’s too greasy.

Essence is like that chicken to me.

Something that can come crashing down on me 365 days a year, without a break.

After all, I have to admit that this face and body have reached the pinnacle of aestheticism, even by my own standards.

“H, here. Here you go…”

Look at them now.

This poor clerk is having their essence sucked out of them just by seeing my face, even with the veil covering it.

Their eyes seem to be losing focus and reason…

At this rate, they might suffer Death by Exhaustion even though they’re just working the night shift.

Before that could happen, I snapped my fingers to forcibly cut off the essence flowing into me, and the clerk finally managed to regain their senses.

“Ah, why, why is this happening. S, sorry.”

However, as a result of the aftereffects, a stream of blood flowed from their nose.

A drop of blood dripped onto my hand as I was about to pay.

“S, sorry…”

“Here.”

Before I knew it, I had a handkerchief in my hand and offered it to the clerk.

Handkerchiefs are essential for Succubi when going out, so I always carry several with me. This worked out well.

“You don’t have to refuse. I have plenty.”

“…Yes, yes…”

It might be unnecessary meddling, but I felt like I had to give them something since they were bleeding from the nose because of me.

It wasn’t intentional, but I ended up stealing the essence of a student who was already working hard on the night shift.

Still, they have a dreamy look on their face.

“Is the payment finished?”

“Ah…”

The clerk was staring at me with a gaze that seemed to drip with regret.

Well, I can clearly see what they’re thinking.

‘Can I get your phone number?’ or ‘Do you live around here?’ and other things like that.

Before they could say anything else, I grabbed the bag with the drinks and snacks and left the convenience store.

“Have a good night.”

“Ah, goodbye…”

I raised my hand, and the drop of the clerk’s blood that had been on it had already disappeared.

“Hmm, I won’t be able to come here again.”

3:38 AM.

It’s late, but it’s the most active and energetic time for me.

I’m heading to a place with a good view of the night sky.

Fortunately, because of the time, people weren’t easily seen at this late hour.

Perhaps it’s because there’s a perception that monsters or goblins might emerge from the back alleys or sewers under the cover of darkness at such late hours. Unlike in the past, human traffic has drastically decreased at night.

‘I heard that there were many cases like that in the early days of the rifts? Monsters that came out of the gates hid in the city’s sewers, back alleys, and abandoned buildings, creating their own ecosystems and attacking passersby…’

Still, buildings like convenience stores have Electric Field Fences, so if a monster approaches, an alarm goes off to a private security company made up of Awakened. Awakened who have been assigned to maintain public order regularly patrol, but it’s still not recommended for civilians to walk around alone at 3-4 AM.

Even at this late hour, I couldn’t take off the veil covering my face.

If anyone were to see me, they would be forcibly charmed as soon as they saw my bare face.

After walking for a bit, I saw a small mountain in the neighborhood that looked more like a hill.

There was a gazebo on top of the hill where people from the neighborhood could rest while taking a walk.

Originally, there would have been many middle-aged women or elderly people exercising around the gazebo even at this early hour, but the world has changed a lot, and now there was no one to be seen.

They say that there might be goblins living in the back mountain, and you might get extorted for passage if you pass by, so they never take early morning or night walks.

“Well, it’s good for me. I can have this nice place all to myself.”

I took a sip of the strawberry-flavored protein drink.

Hmm, just right.

The subtle thickness unique to protein and the faint sweetness of strawberry.

It’s a drink that any Succubus would like.

Why do they like it?

Well, because it’s delicious.

I sat on the gazebo and dangled my legs while drinking.

The sound stimulation from earphones is too much, so I decided to listen to music through the smartwatch speaker.

The song that came on from the random playlist was meditation music with an unknown title.

I’m glad it’s not intense metal rock mixed with electric guitar.

“Ah, it’s coming.”

4:04 AM.

The sky opens.

Not a figurative expression, but the night sky really splits open, and today, new light and darkness, and things from other worlds that aren’t this one, are nesting on Earth.

The government calls this phenomenon the Night Sea.

Based on the Night Sea phenomenon, they also forecast gates in the area and, if there are dangerous areas, they evacuate or issue warnings, and also commission Hunters.

“It’s beautiful.”

Perhaps this phenomenon will cause trouble for someone. Someone might have to wake up in the middle of the night and go through the trouble of controlling safe areas… but the sky where the Night Sea opens is quite a beautiful and rare sight to me.

“So pretty…”

As I looked at the night sky, my eyes unknowingly filled with a rapturous light.

Originally, for a Succubus, and for me, beauty is the most abstract yet important instinct, and at the same time, it’s a tool for survival.

To put it simply, beauty is like a hunting tool for a Succubus.

With their appearance, figure, sex appeal to appeal to the opposite sex, and natural beauty, Succubi charm others and absorb their essence to continue their lives.

It’s no wonder that Succubi have an aesthetic instinct in their subconscious.

It’s an unconscious act based on instinct, and it’s natural to maintain their own beauty and be sensitive to the beauty that comes from things different from others.

Lust, lewdness, charm, seduction, obscenity, lasciviousness.

I always suppress these things as much as possible with reason.

That’s why I… liked watching the night sky, the Night Sea with stars engraved on it.

The reality of the stars is that they are celestial bodies no different from the sun, but I liked those stars that came down with a subtle sparkle on a night like fine frost in winter.

If other Succubi or Incubus saw it… no, if anyone with even a little knowledge of the demon race saw me, they might call it nonsense.

How can a Succubus, who covets the essence and life of others and values physical relationships and lust the most, satisfy their desires by looking at the night sky?

Well, I’m the Succubus Empress.

I don’t need to mix bodies or skin, I can steal the essence of others.

“Ah, is it over?”

The Night Sea phenomenon wasn’t long.

At most, 5 minutes.

However, the harmony of the stars and rifts engraved in the sky felt like looking at a huge work of art.

While looking at it, I took another sip of the strawberry-flavored drink.

Before the subtle sweetness of the pink liquid faded, I put a sea shrimp cracker in my mouth.

-Crunch, crunch

Hmm, it tastes the same as before.

But why does the chewing sound feel kind of mushy?

The texture itself is the same.

Looking at the ingredient list on the package, the shrimp ratio was a whopping 50 percent.

What was the shrimp content like before?

I don’t remember well, but it must have been around 1 percent at most…

Is it because ecosystem resources have increased massively thanks to the rifts?

It seems to be a small advantage of the rifts.

“Haaa… I feel a bit sluggish today.”

It was a starry sky after the Night Sea had ended, but it was still a beautiful sky.

If you look at the light engraved in the starry sky for a long time, you sometimes feel like eyes engraved in the darkness are looking down at you.

The beauty of the night sky has faded in color and light due to the neon signs of the city and the lights illuminating the ground, but the stars that shine brightly are still in the night sky.

When I look at the night sky, I feel that even the artificial and brilliant light created by humans cannot stop the engraving of the stars. As I look at the stars, the stars also look down at me.

If you spend that time long and leisurely, you get the illusion that the night sky and my gaze meet, and inspiration and exchange without conversation continue.

If I were a genius artist, I might get inspiration from this alone, but unfortunately, I just like the personal beauty I feel, and I don’t have any outstanding artistic sense.

Then what am I?

I’m just a Succubus.

A Succubus who likes beautiful things.

Of course, the title of Empress is attached to the end, but fundamentally, I’m a Succubus who likes beautiful things.

-Beep!

“…”

Ah, I was having such a good time…

I stood up at the loud noise coming directly from my wrist and ear.

“Haa, I wouldn’t have answered if it were anyone else.”

I frowned slightly and answered the incoming call, and the sound of something collapsing and being destroyed could be heard from beyond the signal.

And somehow familiar and friendly voice of someone very urgent.

[Jae, Jaehee! Jaehee! I’m so sorry for calling you urgently at night!]

“Yes, yes. It’s a good night, Dan Ayeon, the civil servant.”

[Good night is n… Kyaaak! D, don’t come here!]

And someone’s scream.

The sound of something breaking and being destroyed was heard in succession.

After waiting quietly for about 30 seconds, I heard a friendly yet somewhat dim-witted voice again.

[Huk, huk, huk… Sorry, sorry, Jaehee! Actually, right now…]

“Is it because of the Night Sea?”

[Yes, yes! Suddenly, an unexpected anomaly and an unidentified violent entity have been observed, and the Gimpo field unit is now responding urgently!]

“Is it so urgent that you’re calling me directly at 4 AM?”

[Yes? Yesss? Th, that’s…]

Even through the phone, I could see the civil servant with a dim-witted face panicking.

Probably thinking, ‘W, well, it doesn’t seem like something I should be calling Jaehee about. No, but the situation on the ground is too serious, and the higher-ups are telling me to call Jaehee right away. Ah, what should I do, really…’

I don’t like everyone else in the government, but Dan Ayeon, the civil servant is fun to tease and cute, so I don’t dislike her.

“I’m just kidding. I’ll be right there.”

[H, huh! Th, thank you!]

At first, I was a little upset that my alone time was interrupted, but I’ll be satisfied with teasing our cute civil servant a little.

After all, there might be someone dying over there.

I got up from the gazebo and swept my hair back.

It’s a suit that covers my body completely, but there’s only one part that’s exposed, the lower back where the wings come out. There was a clean exposed area as if a very small part of the pelvis had been cut with a knife.

The wings.

It’s only natural for a Succubus to have wings.

It’s quite convenient.

Flying in the sky feels quite good.

I still wonder why wings pop out of my head like a crown when I spread the wings on my waist.

What are the head wings really for?

I can’t fly with these…

“I’ll be right there. Dan Ayeon, the civil servant. Please hold on a little longer.”

[Yes, yes! Thank you! Thank you so much again this time! And I’m sorry! Sorry and thank you again!]

Then… shall I go help this poor civil servant who is caught between the top and bottom?