HH Chapter 8

‘At least my mind won’t get dull, right?’

Having learned magic, I escaped my freeloader status and was accepted as a full member of the mercenary group. From then on, I started receiving proper compensation for completing requests and participating in subjugations, just like the other guys.

At first, I died a lot because I wasn’t used to fighting. There were times when my arm got ripped off or my stomach got pierced, but I was a special transmigrator with a cheat key!

So, I healed all those injuries with money. By deducting from my funds, I could revive and reattach severed limbs. It was as if the injuries never happened.

“Hey, you just hide over there and use your magic.”

“…….”

However, the guys who had witnessed me dying even once treated me like a completely useless idiot. There’s a limit to how much you can be ignored.

“Yes, yes, I’ll do my best.”

“Don’t use any overly flashy magic. If you miss, you’ll be the only one hurt.”

“Yeah! Don’t bother and get in the way, just stay put and take care of your wimpy self.”

Well, compared to those monster-like mercenary people, what they said was somewhat true… but it was also quite frustrating.

“If things get dicey, don’t even think about interfering, just turn around and run. That’s better than being a hindrance. Got it?”

“……No. That won’t do.”

“I knew I couldn’t trust you.”

“Put on another layer of armor.”

“Oh, come on!”

It’s heavy…. I grumbled, but I had to trudge through the forest, clanging and rattling loudly, with an extra piece of protective gear forced upon me. They were the ones who made me like this, yet the moment they saw me, they would burst into laughter, turning me into a laughingstock.

Anyway, my colleagues treated me like a porcelain doll that could break in the slightest breeze. I honestly couldn’t blame them. I had died and revived so many times that there were hardly few people in the mercenary group who hadn’t seen hallucinations of my death.

Up until now, I’d brushed it off as a hallucinatory effect caused by monsters… but when I died last time, there weren’t any monsters, there was nothing around me at all, and I just rolled down the stairs by myself.

“This idiot!”

Fortunately, it was early morning, so the only one who saw it was Ryzen. And Ryzen was a bit of a fool, so he readily believed my lie that I’d put up a protective barrier right before I fell. I can’t even use that kind of magic yet, dummy.

“You’re all scraped up. You woke me up because of this, you troublemaker!”

Actually, Ryzen, I can fix this right now if I pay.

I wanted to say that, but I held back. If there were witnesses, it was better not to heal these minor injuries.

‘Because they’ll think I’m weird.’

Healing magic is a very high-level holy magic, and there weren’t even any books on it circulating around. Moreover, it was said that it’s a magic that even people in the temple only start learning after at least three years of experience.

It was my life’s principle to never do anything that would catch other people’s attention. So, I only ever revived myself, which meant I always lived with various big and small injuries.

‘It would be too strange if I rolled down those stairs without a single scratch, right?’

I’m a transmigrator armed with a cheat key. Hehe.

However, if I used this system-given player perk too often, the guys might misunderstand me as being really strong.

Then more dangerous requests would come in, and if that happened, being weak, I’d keep dying and reviving, ending up buried under a mountain of debt, right?

So, unless it’s an extremely dire situation, I don’t use the healing option much.

“What am I supposed to do with this nuisance?”

Ryzen pinched my cheek hard and shook it roughly. I could imagine how red it must be now.

“Ryzen. Apologize for calling me an idiot earlier.”

“No way, idiot!”

I glared at him to express my displeasure, but his hand that was squeezing my cheeks only shook it harder.

“You have the nerve to talk back after stupidly rolling down the stairs for no reason. Is this the first time this has happened?”

“…Nooo.”

“Be careful, okay?”

But sometimes, I get the urge to abuse this perk just to appear a little stronger. Because of these people who treat me like a clumsy idiot who gets hurt just by walking….

Anyway, two years passed peacefully just like that.

2: The Request

I never forgot, not even for a second, that this place was a game. The system window would pop up when I least expected it, and anyone would become like me after dying and reviving dozens, hundreds of times.

One day, a worry came to me.

‘This is costing way too much money….’

I had to revive myself at least twice during each subjugation. But that doesn’t mean I could just skip out on requests when they came in….

For a while, I was preoccupied with worrying about money. I was dying and getting injured so much that my money never had a chance to accumulate.

While I was pondering if there was any ways to earn some extra cash, an opportunity arose to both solve my financial worries and get closer to the owner of the nearby magic item shop.

I first got to know Mei because her shop was nearby and she was friends with Ryzen. At first, we were just neighbors, but now I’m confident enough to say that I’m closer to Mei than Ryzen is!

“Hey, Ryzen! Lend me your little guy for a sec. I need to talk to him.”

“Say it now.”

“It’s something we need to discuss privately.”

“……Why do you two keep meeting alone lately? It’s suspicious.”

“That’s none of your business either.”

“With that age difference, it’s a crime. I’m thinking of reporting you to the guards.”

“Huh, what’s it to you? Chahyun, come here quickly.”

Mei gestured for me to come over. Ryzen grabbed me as I turned to follow her and started nagging in my ear.

“Kid, what have I always told you? Don’t just follow a strange adult when they tell ask you to….”

“Mei isn’t a strange person.”

“…….”

Ryzen looked at me menacingly, as if wondering where to begin scolding me, but unfortunately, we couldn’t include Ryzen in our conversation. This was a secret between Mei and me.

When I first met Mei of Mei’s Magic Shop, the owner of the shop was her mother. And Mei recently inherited the family business and is now running the magic item shop on her own.

It’s a little embarrassing to say this myself, but I was the biggest contributor to Mei’s inheritance of the shop.

As we entered the back of the shop, unlike the front, a display case filled with all sorts of adult products came into view. We called this place the secret room.

“I think it’s time to release Ogre No. 3,” Mei said as she drew the curtains closed. 

Ah, so that’s what this is about. 

I nodded and sat up straight.

This is a magic item shop. That means it handles anything made using the principles of magic.

Ogre No. 2, our masterpiece, had flown off the shelves a few months ago. Mei took charge of the product design, concept, and sales, while I was in charge of implementing the functions within the product.

In other words, I became the tech guy for adult toys.

Two years ago, Mei was distraught after inheriting a mountain of adult products from a nearby shop that had gone bankrupt due to poor sales. She asked Ryzen for help, and I tagged along at that time.

Ryzen, surprisingly shy, had flushed bright red and fled the scene after seeing the numerous piled up dildos, but as a loyal friend, I stayed and helped her find a way to deal with the inventory.

Then, my comment to Mei, who was expressing her doubts about selling non-magical items in a magic item shop, became the turning point.

‘Then why don’t you modify them into magic items? Like, add a vibration function?’

Mei was intrigued by my words. Despite the existence of magic, it seemed like magic wasn’t widely incorporated into adult products here. Seeing her reaction to a simple idea like adding a vibration function to a dildo model…

Magic can be imbued into any object. Mei’s eyes lit up at my suggestion to modify the dildos and add functions, but her face quickly fell.

‘The unit cost is too high. You know how complex magic circle engraving is. There’s a reason people don’t do it.’

Magic is the exclusive domain of mages. If you add the skill of engraving magic circles onto objects, the price increases more than tenfold, making magic items considered luxury goods.

I should have known about it just from the lack of things like flying broomsticks, even though this is a magical world.

The same was true for vibration magic. Vibration magic is engraved onto magic items like massage devices or whipping machines, but with every function added, the price of the item skyrockets, making them unsalable, close to dead stock items.

‘Are there any magic engravers around here?’

‘There are. But their skills aren’t good enough to engrave such complex magic circles….’

‘If I simplify the magic circle, would it be possible?’

‘……Can you do that?’

Vibration magic wasn’t that difficult a spell compared to its reputation. The key was converting magical power into kinetic energy and giving the power a constant speed.

I compressed and compressed the magic circle, modifying it into a cheap magic circle, and thus, a sort of partnership between us began.

“There are some complaints about the vibrations being monotonous. I guess the stimulation isn’t the same as the first time once you get used to it. So, I was wondering, is it possible to diversify the vibration patterns?”

Ryzen wouldn’t even dream that the two of us were discussing business with monster-shaped dildos in front of us. 

It was because I had specifically asked Mei to keep it a secret.