Chapter 170: Pillow Talk (2)

Holding Han Min-ah’s soft body close with both arms, we lay together on the bedding, bodies intertwined.

Although it was an arousing situation that naturally caused an erection, without going as far as penetration, I explored her body.

Touching her cute breasts, small enough to fit perfectly in one hand, and her thick, fluffy gray tail, among other things.

After a few minutes, Han Min-ah turned her head to meet my eyes.

“…How long are you going to keep touching me?”

“Huh? I was planning on continuing to touch you?”

“……”

“Let’s just talk like this. You wanted to ask about my awakened ability earlier, right?”

She shot me a look of disbelief before turning her head back forward.

“…Okay, so about your awakened ability.”

“Yeah.”

“What exactly is it? Is it really an ability that benefits from us… getting intimate?”

As I pondered how much of the answer to reveal, Min-ah immediately followed up.

“If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to. It’s understandable to hesitate talking about it with anyone, especially since you’re the first male Awakener like this. …But as a friend, I’d appreciate it if you told me a little.”

It was as if she was letting me choose how much to reveal about my ability.

After briefly considering how much would be appropriate to tell Min-ah, I carefully chose my first words.

“To put it simply, it’s an ability that makes me stronger every time I have sex.”

“Stronger every time you have sex… what?”

“That’s the summary, anyway. If I were to explain the detailed mechanics…”

That when I satisfy the sexual desires of a female Hunter, I gain points corresponding to that value.

The amount of points varies based on the other Hunter’s affection level towards me, their accumulated sexual desire, and so on.

And that the points could be used to learn various abilities, similar to a ‘Multiple Awakener’. I explained this much.

It was about the same level of information I’d given Cha Yuri or Do Sihee.

Since Han Min-ah had become someone I regularly shared intimacy with, just like them, I felt she deserved to know at least that much.

“…So, in summary, it’s an awakened ability similar to a Multiple Awakener, but the way to increase its proficiency is through sex… that, sexual intercourse?”

“Yep, exactly.”

“Seriously, there are all sorts of awakened abilities. Hmph.”

I thought Min-ah’s reaction was perfectly natural.

I myself was suspicious enough to wonder if someone was playing a prank on me when I first received this ability.

“Don’t you have any doubts about what I just told you?”

“Huh?”

“Like maybe I’m lying to you to avoid telling you my real awakened ability, or perhaps I’m suffering from pathological lying because I wanted to become a Hunter so badly.”

“That’s ridiculous. If you were going to lie, you’d have picked a simpler ability. Why invent something like this that no one’s ever heard of?”

“That’s true.”

“Besides, someone suffering from pathological lying wouldn’t admit it themselves… Though, now that I think about it, that possibility does seem a little suspicious.”

“Well then, maybe this will ease some of your suspicion?”

Saying that, I withdrew my hands from her chest and brought them up to her face, conjuring a small flame before my fingers.

“It’s fire magic. I can’t exactly swing a sword around in here, so this is all I can show you.”

“…So it’s true that you really did Awaken.”

Han Min-ah’s voice returned, sounding as if she had finally put all her doubts to rest.

“Sigh, but this means I have to rewrite your recommendation letter from scratch… I already filled it mostly with details about swordsmanship…”

“That’s fine as it is. I’m keeping my other awakened abilities secret from the Union. I’m also using an artifact that suppresses recognition, so they probably just think I’m a female Hunter who wields a greatsword.”

“…That’s a relief, at least.”

Still, some revisions would be necessary. To comfort her, I gently stroked her ears and head.

“…Speaking of which, do I need to change my name if I transfer to the company?”

“Huh? Wait, have you been using a pseudonym this whole time?”

“I use the alias Kim Sungchul at the Union. Back then, I didn’t have the recognition-suppressing artifact, so I figured it would attract too much attention to operate under my real name.”

“…It’s amazing you managed to hide the fact that you’re a male Hunter under an alias like that.”

“I only started seriously climbing ranks after I got the recognition-suppressing artifact.”

It was the result of various fortunate coincidences, but thanks to that, I’ve been active successfully so far, and that’s enough.

“Take a look at my ID tag.”

“Here.”

“…You have quite a few completed requests listed here too. How long ago did you say you started your Hunter activities?”

“Timeline-wise, I Awakened around the end of June this year, so about 3 to 4 months?”

“You fucking crazy-talented bastard.”

I agreed, thinking that reaching this point in just 3 months was an incredible feat. As a sign of agreement, I gently rubbed her breasts.

After all, I didn’t really get a chance to fondle these cute breasts during sex earlier due to the positions.

I should at least get to enjoy them thoroughly now that sex is over.

“I-It’s okay if you touch them… but don’t do it too weirdly…”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, your nipples, aren’t you pinching them too hard…?”

“What, did you feel that again?”

“Hey, you bastard! How can I not feel it when you keep stimulating me like that!”

As Min-ah glared back angrily, a heart filled with points reappeared next to her face.

Judging by her condition, it looked like we could manage one more round before heading back.

“About operating under an alias… maybe if we talk to Hye-eun’s mother, we can sort something out?”

“Eunyoung Noona?”

“…Wait, you call Hye-eun’s mother ‘Noona’?”

“……”

“…Never mind, it’s not really my business.”

While it certainly wasn’t something she needed to worry about, I couldn’t help feeling like our relationship had been inadvertently exposed.

“Anyway, Hye-eun’s mother has a history of working together with Seo Ok-hee, the current company representative, during their prime. So, through that connection, maybe your past activities under an alias can be recognized to some extent.”

“Ah, right. There was that way.”

It was already widely known that former S-rank Hunter Kang Eunyoung and company representative Seo Ok-hee were close friends.

In fact, the company name ‘Eun & Ok Co., Ltd.’ was derived by taking one character each from Kang Eunyoung and Seo Ok-hee’s names.

From what I heard when she temporarily returned to Hunter activities recently, they still seem to be on good terms, so it was a viable possibility.

“Still, convincing Hye-eun’s mother will be up to you. She’s known to be ruthless, even with her own daughter during training, so… can you do it?”

“I’ll have to try, anyway. Still, thanks to your suggestion, I can finally relax a bit.”

If all my efforts at the Union were to vanish just because I operated under an alias, even I would feel a bit empty.

Of course, thanks to my activities at the Union, I did form connections with Cha Yuri and Hwayoung Sunbae, so even if that happened, I couldn’t say nothing would remain.

“Besides, it’s still a long way off, so don’t worry about it yet. You can start stressing about the details after you become a B-rank Hunter.”

“Ah, right. Speaking of which, my promotion test date has been set.”

“Oh, really? So you’re C-rank now?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

As soon as the mismatch registered, I immediately recognized the discrepancy in our understanding.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t told her that I was already a C-rank Hunter when we met last time.

“I’m already a C-rank Hunter. When I mentioned the promotion test, I meant moving up to B-rank.”

“…What?”

“It says ‘C-rank Hunter’ right there. Didn’t you look at my Hunter rank, just the completed request list?”

Listening to me, Han Min-ah turned her gaze back to the ID tag and muttered incredulously.

“It really says C-rank… Wait, does that mean all these completed requests were for B-rank missions?”

“The low-level requests were definitely efficient. After completing about ten, the test date was scheduled right away.”

“I never thought someone who promotes using that insane method would be right beside me…”

You fucking crazy-talented bastard… Muttering forlornly, I brought my hand down towards Han Min-ah’s lower body and flicked my thumb and middle finger, lightly but firmly tapping her outer genital area.

“Eeyah?!”

“Don’t swear so much.”

“Are you my boyfriend or something? Suddenly touching… W-What nonsense are you talking about…”

Still, she listens well.

As a form of praise, I moved my hand lower and stroked her tail long and gently.

Stroking and pulling it from the base where it started all the way to the tip, her body stretched out long and soft.

“Hngh, B-but it’s good things worked out. Anyway, Hye-eun seems to have been worrying a lot lately.”

“Really?”

“Jihee Unnie, the eldest sister of our party, is getting to an age where she’ll likely retire soon. But our party clearly won’t function properly without her.”

“You mean that Cheon Jihee person you mentioned last time?”

“Ngh, yeah… If Jihee Unnie leaves, Hye-eun would have to handle the frontline alone, and sometimes when we need to take out enemies in the rear first, Jihee Unnie’s abilities are essential. Ah, th-there… Knead there a little more…”

“So she’s like a guerrilla, handling various roles within the party?”

“S-Something like that! Maybe if you joined, you could mitigate it to some extent, but given how long they’ve worked together, it’ll be hard to replace her right away…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Han Min-ah’s body, which had stiffened, softened again with a moan of ‘Hngh!’.

She really likes it when I knead the exact middle part of her long tail.

Based on the information I’ve gathered from her so far, Hye-eun’s Sky Blue Shield party currently consists of four members.

The vanguard is the shield user Kang Hye-eun, reconnaissance is handled by the beast-type Awakener Han Min-ah, and the firepower is managed by the mage Cha Yuri.

And including Cheon Jihee, who plays the guerrilla role though her abilities aren’t fully understood yet, that makes a total of four members currently in Sky Blue Shield’s roster.

For some reason, I had a feeling I would meet them all someday.