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Medes, a high-ranking demon belonging to Pandemic, is a unique entity among demons with a heart transformed into a manastone. He\'s been absorbing mana for decades and growing stronger. I need its heart before I can treat Alice\'s mana deficiency.

Medes makes an appearance in the latter part of the original work. In other words, I can\'t cure her right now. That\'s why I\'m bluffing. After all, she doesn\'t know anything.

Innate mana deficiency is a disease that even the super-guild Iris Guild tried with all its might to find a cure for but failed. So, as long as Alice believes that "Lee Hoyeon has a solution for innate mana deficiency," I can spin any tale. After all, no one has discovered a cure.

"T-Treatment method… Please tell me, I\'m begging you."

"I\'ll tell you."

"R-Really?" A flush appeared on her face.

I can\'t let this opportunity slip away. It\'s difficult to revert to the original route of conquering Alice now that she\'s discovered my relationships. I shouldn\'t display the generosity of the original route—I must establish a dominant relationship. The first step is overcoming the mana deficiency.

Judging by her reaction, quickly raising her affection seems unlikely.

The goal is to maintain dominance until Medes appears, and conflict between Alice and her sister, Irene, begins. If I can naturally sustain my dominance until I initiate her strategy route, it might work. Considering she already knows about my other relationships, her affection needs to be much higher than in the original work before I can begin.

It\'s a tough situation.

I addressed Alice, who gazed at me with starry-eyed enthusiasm, "Alice, isn\'t there something you want to say first?"

"…?"

"You haven\'t got a clue, have you?"

Alice tilted her head momentarily, then, caught my expression. She lowered her head as if recalling something. "Ah… I apologize for investigating you and trying to use it as leverage. My bad…"

"Accepted."

Frankly, there\'s no need to apologize for it. It\'s a routine in the hunter community, just like how Moon Soorin promptly investigated me. But in this case, it\'s needed. It\'s all part of the process of asserting dominance in our dynamic.

"Now, about the treatment method, it\'s going to take at least a year. Are you fine with that?"

"Yes, as long as the treatment is possible… I don\'t mind."

Since it\'ll take a year for Medes to show up, I need to buy some time until then. I contemplated a method that could yield some results and simultaneously boost her affection, and an idea crossed my mind.

While assisting Lumi with her training, I learned how to manipulate mana in someone else\'s body. So, could I just directly infuse my mana? This should buy us some time. And for the affection boost, I can simply tweak the approach a bit.

"Do you know about mana massage?"

"What?" Alice sported a bewildered expression. Naturally, since I just made it up.

"It\'s something I and an acquaintance researched… Only those skilled in mana manipulation can pull this off. Come here for a moment." I seized Alice\'s shoulder and infused a bit of my mana. Then, seamlessly integrated it into her mana circuits.

"Huh? What\'s this…?"

"Can you sense your mana increasing a bit?"

"How\'s something like this even possible?!"

"It\'s the outcome of my hard work. I put in quite an effort to tackle my mana deficiency."

That\'s a lie. It\'s all thanks to my special perk, Mana Sensitivity. Others likely can\'t pull it off. Changing one\'s mana into another person\'s is a whole different ball game from just injecting mana into someone else\'s body for an attack or assisting in potion absorption.

"You\'d usually need a top-grade manastone for this, but… I can do it for you in a simplified way." I placed my hand on her back and infused mana. It wasn\'t much, but she should function for a few hours.

"If you consistently receive this massage, you\'ll gradually feel changes."

"Thanks. Just lend a hand during this survival test. I\'ll handle the research on my own."

"Sure. There\'s no one else on my end who can do this though. The person who used to help me has retired. So if it doesn\'t work out, I\'ll assist you."

"Yeah, thanks. I\'ll make sure to return the favor when we\'re out."

"Sure."

Either way, Alice will gravitate back to me post-survival test. Without Mana Sensitivity, it\'s impossible for someone to perform such advanced mana manipulation. Once she gets a taste, she\'ll likely come back for more.

Filling mana with manastones feels like absorbing mana into the body, so it\'s inefficient, and a lot of mana is wasted. But by directly transferring mana to the mana circuits, I can forcibly expand them. Of course, widening the circuits for a short time won\'t miraculously cure a severe illness. But for Alice, with her narrow mana circuits, this process will feel like a part of the treatment.

"For now… Let\'s stick together during the survival test."

"Yes, I understand."

***

"I just want one thing: let\'s not be a bother to each other. I have faith in you—or, to be exact, in the pride of someone named Alice. I\'m not expecting anyone to carry favors without a price tag."

"Sure, sounds good. I\'m someone who keeps my pride."

We were walking and exchanging words.

"As for digging into backgrounds, honestly, who doesn\'t do it? It\'s all good. I\'m in the position to receive a favor from your guildmaster myself."

"Oh… right. The request token privilege. I got it from my father. I\'ll give it to you after the survival test."

"Really? Much obliged."

I\'ll save it for Nam Daeun. When I\'m pressuring the Buyers Guild, I need a bit of extra strength myself to avoid relying on the other heroines.

"Lee Hoyeon… I, I\'m falling short…"

"Come here."

Every few hours, I graced Alice\'s shoulder with my hand and infused a tad bit of mana. Just a smidge. Sure, I could\'ve flooded her with mana in one go, but that wouldn\'t give the gradual improvement I\'m aiming for, so I purposely started with small amounts.

"Thank you." Alice, having received her portion of mana, expressed her gratitude.

Even though she insists on being indebted only during the survival test, she\'ll be a regular customer for my massages outside. Ultimately, the act of continually receiving my massages during the survival test itself sets the stage for me to establish dominance.

"Speaking of which, did you and Lumi decide to part ways?"

"How did you know I met her…?"

It\'s peculiar. After Alice made her exit, Lumi swung by, then left, and Alice made a return. Alice shouldn\'t have been a witness to my quality time with Lumi.

"Oh, um… I saw her on the way. She was coming from your direction. And she brought some food, so naturally, I thought she was meeting you."

"Ah, I see." I feigned understanding and checked the status window.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Alice]

[Affection: 33]

[Lust: 57]

[Appetite: 40]

[Fatigue: 79]

Current Status: I almost let it slip… Better watch my tongue.

Something\'s off.

What was it almost about to let slip? She already mentioned knowing about my relationship with Lumi. Is there anything else that could have been exposed?

First, there\'s something I need to state clearly.

"Alice, don\'t bother poking around in my relationships. We should each mind our own business."

"Yeah, my bad. I didn\'t mean it that way… So, where to now?"

"Let\'s go find some treasures or supply boxes first. Or maybe tackle a boss monster. Those three seem promising for rewards."

Alice smoothly shifted to a different topic, skillfully covering her verbal slip.

For now, I\'ll overlook it. If it\'s genuinely crucial, there won\'t be any more verbal fumbles. I\'ve decided to play the waiting game; perhaps keen observation will lead to insights.

We were trekking up the mountain. The original game also featured a survival test. Naturally, I could find some treasures, and I knew the boss monster\'s whereabouts. We headed to a location etched in my memory. In the game, treasure spots stayed the same, but their contents varied each round, so I had no clue about the type of treasure. But anything is a gain.

Swoosh—

Alice took the lead, slicing through trees with her sword. She\'s at the forefront because of the massages I bestowed upon her. At least she\'s got a conscience. I bought a sword, just in case.

"Let\'s explore this way. Feels like there might be something."

"Are you sure about that…?"

"We don\'t know anything anyway. Let\'s just go with my gut."

"Alright." Alice diligently cleared a path through the trees, and I trailed behind.

"It\'s suspicious…" Alice sported a puzzled expression as if she stumbled upon the bizarre.

As expected, this must be it.

We blatantly stumbled upon a suspicious, large rock.

"It\'s too tough for me to break."

Certainly looks like it could withstand a beating.

"I\'ll crack through. Stand back." I focused mana into my hand and conjured Spiral.

Kwaaang—

The rock collided with my Spiral. It shattered with a resounding noise, revealing the entrance to a cave behind it.

"Let\'s go in."

"Yes."

Woom—

The drone that had been playing tag with us since the crack of dawn joined our cave expedition. It\'s been our faithful stalker ever since Alice and I decided to stick together. Probably keeping a watchful eye on the unlikely duo of promising students.

Alice, with all her caution, was tiptoeing ahead and scrutinizing the surroundings.

There are no monsters here.

This colossal rock cave is a walk in the park once you deal with the rock. No traps, no monsters. Of course, Alice is unaware, so I quietly trailed behind. I lit up the area with fire orbs from time to time, and whenever she glanced back, I put on my best faux tense expression.

After about ten minutes, a treasure chest stood proudly, practically yelling, "Come get your reward!"

"Let\'s see what this is about."

"Wait. It might be a mimic. Don\'t let your guard down."

"Oh, yeah."

Well, there could be mimics here too.

I summoned a fire spell and set the treasure chest ablaze. Even though I knew it wasn\'t a mimic, I attacked the treasure chest with all the zest of an overenthusiastic adventurer.

"Seems fine. I\'ll open it."

"Just be careful, you never know."

"Got it."

I opened the treasure chest. Inside, there was a single piece of paper.

What\'s this?

[Treasure No. 19. 100% HP Recovery Voucher]

"HP recovery voucher?"

Curious, as I was about to examine the paper, my smartwatch decided to put on a light show. I gave the survival test app a check.

[Behold! Treasure No. 19. 100% HP Recovery Voucher!]

[Push the HP Recovery Voucher button on your smartwatch, and the Saint will swoop in to patch you up, restoring a whopping 100% of your health.]

[One-time use.]

"…"

Ahyeong, is it your doing?