Episode 113. Survival Exam (6)

The cure for the congenital mana disorder.

I know it, of course.

Medes, a key executive of the demon group Pandemic.

An individual among demons whose heart itself has turned into a magic stone.

I need Medes’ heart, which has been growing stronger over decades by absorbing Medes’ mana.

With that, the mana disorder can be cured.

And Medes appears in the latter half of the original story.

Which means, I can’t cure Alice’s mana disorder right now.

But why am I pulling off this bluff? Because Alice knows nothing anyway.

The congenital mana disorder is a disease that the mega-guild Iris Guild tried to find a cure for with all their might, but failed.

As long as Alice believes ‘Lee Hoyeon has a way to cure the congenital mana disorder,’ I can spout whatever bullshit I want.

Because no one has discovered a cure.

“T-the cure. Tell me too. Please.”

“I will.”

“R-really?”

Alice’s face lit up.

But I can’t just let it go like a sucker here.

Since my relationships with women have been exposed, capturing Alice is difficult to proceed with according to the original route.

Since other women have already claimed me, I won’t be showing the main wife’s magnanimity like in the original work.

Ultimately, I need to create a relationship where I’m the superior one.

The first step is overcoming the mana disorder.

‘Judging by her reaction, I can’t quickly raise her affection points.’

Because even I wouldn’t want to like a guy who’s a player.

The goal is to maintain a superior relationship until Medes appears and the conflict with Alice’s older sister, Irene, begins.

If I naturally maintain this superior relationship until entering the capture route, it might be possible.

However, affection must be higher than in the original work at the point when the capture begins.

Because it starts with her already knowing I have other women.

In other words, I need to maintain superiority over Alice while also raising her affection points.

‘This is tough?’

First, I spoke to Alice, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

“Alice, but there’s something we need to do first.”

“…?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know?”

Alice tilted her head, then, seeing my expression, lowered her head as if she remembered.

“Ah… I’m really sorry for investigating you and trying to blackmail you with it.”

“Okay. I got it. I was just messing around too.”

Honestly, it’s not like I deserved an apology for the background check. It felt bad, but it’s practically a standard practice in the hunter world.

Moon Surin even did a background check on me.

But I should receive an apology, even if just formally.

These trivial things are part of the process of establishing superiority.

“First, regarding the cure, it will take at least over a year. Is that okay?”

“Yes. If you can just cure it… I don’t mind.”

It takes a year for Medes to appear, so I need to buy time until then.

A method that is effective even a little and can also raise affection points….

One method flashed in my mind.

While helping Lumi with her training, I learned how to control mana in another person’s body.

Then, isn’t it possible to directly inject my mana?

This should be enough to buy time.

And to raise affection points too, I should inject mana in a slightly different way.

“Do you know about ‘Mana Massage’?”

“What?”

Alice looked like she was hearing it for the first time.

Of course. I just made it up.

“It’s something I researched and created with people I know… It requires someone with high mana control ability. Come here for a moment.”

I grabbed Alice’s shoulder and injected a little of my mana.

Then, I naturally made it blend into Alice’s mana circuit.

“Ah? What is this….”

“Do you feel your mana has increased a bit?”

“How is this possible?”

“It’s the result of effort. I worked incredibly hard to cure my mana disorder too.”

It’s a lie.

It’s thanks to the special skill [Mana Sensitivity].

Controlling mana is my specialty.

It’s probably impossible for others.

Injecting mana into someone else’s body to attack or assist in absorbing elixirs is completely different from changing my mana into that person’s mana.

“To do it properly, the highest quality magic stone is needed… but I’ll do a simplified version for you.”

I placed my hand on Alice’s back and infused mana.

It wasn’t much, but enough for her to be active for a few hours.

“If you receive this massage consistently, you’ll feel gradual changes.”

“Thank you. Please help me a little only during the Survival Exam. Outside, if you teach me the method, I’ll research it myself.”

“Okay. For now, I’m the only one left who can do it. The person who used to do it has retired from active duty. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll help you.”

“Yes. Thank you. I’ll definitely repay you after we get out.”

“No worries. We’re friends, after all.”

Alice is bound to come back to me anyway, even after the Survival Exam ends.

Without [Mana Sensitivity], no one can perform such advanced mana control.

Rather, once they taste it, they’ll come back for more.

Filling mana with magic stones feels like absorbing it into the body, making it inefficient and wasting a lot of mana, but I deliver mana directly into the mana circuit.

Because I forcefully insert my mana, the mana circuit is also forcefully widened.

Of course, it’s not an easy disease that can be cured just because the circuit widens briefly.

But Alice, whose mana circuit is narrow, will feel even that process as part of the cure.

“For now… let’s stick together during the Survival Exam.”

“Yes. Okay.”

*

“What I want is only one thing. Let’s not annoy each other. I trust you. More accurately, I trust Alice’s pride. Because she’s not the type to accept a favor without reciprocation.”

“Yes. That’s a good idea. I am someone who upholds my pride.”

We were having a conversation while walking.

“Background checks, well, honestly, who doesn’t do them? It’s fine. Even I right now am in a position to receive a request right from your Guild Master.”

“Ah… right. The request right. I received it from my father. I’ll give it to you after the Survival Exam ends.”

“Really? Thank you.”

I’ll use the request right for Nam Daeun.

I’ll use it later when pressuring the Buyer Guild.

Because I need considerable power myself if I’m not going to rely on the help of other heroines.

“Lee Hoyeon. I, uh… am running low.”

“Come here.”

Once every few hours, I place my hand on Alice’s shoulder and inject mana.

Little by little.

If I wanted to, I could fill her mana completely all at once, but that wouldn’t give her a feeling of gradual progress, so I’m intentionally starting small.

“Thank you.”

Alice, having received mana, expressed her gratitude to me.

Alice says she’ll only rely on me during the Survival Exam, but she’ll receive massages from me outside too.

Ultimately, the very act of her continuously receiving my massages during the Survival Exam is creating the background for me to be in a superior position.

“Speaking of which, did you decide to go separately with Lumi?”

“…How do you know I met Lumi?”

This is strange.

Alice had left, then Lumi came, then Lumi left, and then Alice came back.

Alice shouldn’t have been able to see me together with Lumi, right?

“Ah, ah… I saw her on the way. Lumi was coming from your direction. And since she was taking food, I naturally assumed she had met you.”

“Aha… I see.”

I pretended to be convinced and opened my status window.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Alice]

• [ Affection: 33 ]

• [ Lust: 57 ]

• [ Appetite: 40 ]

• [ Fatigue: 79 ]

Current Status: I almost got caught… Don’t slip up.

‘…Suspicious.’

What was I almost caught for?

She told me she knew about my relationship with Lumi, yet is there something to be caught for?

First, there’s something I need to state clearly.

“Don’t worry about my relationships with women. We should each take care of our own territory.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. …Where are we going now?”

“First, let’s go look for treasures or supply boxes. Or boss monsters. These three seem like they’d have good rewards.”

Alice brought up another topic to cover up her slip of the tongue.

‘Let’s move past it for now.’

If it were truly important, she wouldn’t make more mistakes here.

I decided to wait, as I might get a clue if I watch.

We were climbing the mountain.

There was a Survival Exam in the original work too.

And of course, we discovered several treasures and knew the locations of boss monsters.

We headed towards a location I remembered among them.

Even during gameplay, the treasure locations were the same, but the types varied each playthrough, so I don’t know what treasure it is.

But whatever it is, it’s beneficial.

Swish-

Alice was clearing the path in front, cutting trees with her sword.

Since I’m giving her massages, she does take the lead.

She has some conscience.

For reference, I brought the sword just in case.

“Let’s go this way. I think there’s something here.”

“…Are you sure?”

“You don’t know anything anyway. Just follow my lead.”

“Okay.”

Alice diligently cut trees, and I followed behind her.

“Something really suspicious has appeared….”

Alice looked bewildered and wore a strange expression.

‘As expected, this is the place.’

We discovered a large, obviously suspicious rock.

“It’s too hard for me to break.”

Thump thump.

It certainly looks hard just by looking at it.

“I’ll break through. Move aside.”

I concentrated mana spirally in my hand and manifested ‘Spiral’.

KWA-ANG-!

The rock hit by my ‘Spiral’ shattered with a loud noise, revealing the cave entrance behind it.

“Let’s go in.”

“Okay.”

Zzzt zzzt-

The drone that had been chasing us since morning entered the cave with us.

It has been following us continuously since Alice and I started sticking together.

It’s probably monitoring us, labeling it as an alliance of two promising individuals.

Alice was advancing slowly in front, observing the surroundings.

‘There are no monsters here.’

This large rocky cave ends as soon as the rock is broken.

There are no traps and no monsters.

Of course, since Alice couldn’t possibly know that, I quietly followed behind.

Occasionally, I summoned spheres of fire to illuminate the path.

When Alice looked back, I also acted with a tense expression.

After going about ten minutes inside, there was a treasure chest that screamed ‘Reward!’.

“Let’s open it.”

“Wait. It could be a Mimic. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Uh, okay.”

Granted, the monster called Mimic does exist here.

I summoned fire magic and scorched the treasure chest.

Even though I knew it wasn’t a Mimic, I acted diligently and attacked the treasure chest.

“It seems fine. I’ll open it.”

“Just in case, be careful.”

“Okay.”

I opened the treasure chest.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

‘What is this?’

[Treasure No. 19. 100% Health Recovery Coupon]

“Health Recovery Coupon?”

As I was about to examine the paper with a questioning look, my smartwatch started flashing.

I checked the Survival Exam app on my smartwatch.

• You have discovered [Treasure No. 19. 100% Health Recovery Coupon]!

• If you press the Health Recovery Coupon button on your smartwatch, the Saintess will come to you immediately and restore your health to 100%.

• It is single-use.

“…….”

Baek Ahyoung, you again?