Succubi Chapter 185. Smash or Pass?
I glanced around.
No staff.
No students.
No safety net.
Just me.
I rolled my shoulders once.
Loose.
Calm.
My fingers flexed slightly.
Energy moved.
Familiar.
Good.
"Alright," I muttered under my breath.
My voice sounded louder than it should.
I lowered it instinctively.
"Ghosts, huh…"
A faint smile tugged at my lips.
I wasn't thinking about how scary they looked.
Or how they sounded.
Or how the forest felt like it was watching me.
No.
My thoughts went somewhere else entirely.
If they're Level 10 to 20…
Then they're not the problem.
If normal warriors can handle them…
Then they're not the problem.
So what is?
Fear.
Hesitation.
People freezing.
People stepping back.
People choosing not to act.
I exhaled slowly.
Yeah.
That's not me.
Can't be me.
Because I've already seen what happens when you don't act.
And I'm not going back to that.
Ever.
My eyes lifted toward the forest.
Dark.
Quiet.
Waiting.
Somewhere in there…
They were already moving.
Already watching.
Already listening.
I tilted my head slightly.
Then took a step forward.
No hesitation.
Because honestly?
I'd rather walk into ghosts… than stand still and become nothing.
Yeah.
Cool line.
Very dramatic.
Very "main character energy."
And then the forest decided to immediately test that confidence.
"Help… please… help me…"
I froze.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Because that voice?
Soft.
Breathy.
Broken in just the right way.
The kind that crawls into your ear and sits there.
I didn't move.
Didn't step closer.
Didn't answer.
Because yeah, staff literally said 'don't respond.'
So I stood there, fingers flexing slowly at my side, already feeling that familiar hum building.
[Demonic Orbs Ready ]
Good.
Just in case.
"Help… ahn…"
My eye twitched.
…Okay, hold on.
That one?
That one didn't sound right.
I tilted my head slightly, squinting into the trees.
The voice came again.
"Please… help me~"
…
…
…Yeah no.
I actually lifted a hand and rubbed my ear.
"Did I just—"
No way.
No way that's what I think it is.
I stood there, completely still, processing.
Because I expected creepy.
I expected "save me."
I expected crying.
Fear.
Desperation.
Not.
That.
That wasn't fear.
That was… horny?
I exhaled slowly, deadpan.
"…Why does it sound like she's enjoying it?"
Silence.
The forest didn't answer.
Of course it didn't.
But something did move.
Between the trees.
White.
Faint.
Gliding more than walking.
There.
I saw it.
Her.
…Yeah.
"Okay," I muttered under my breath. "That's definitely the monster."
No doubt about it now.
Because the moment she stepped into clearer view, everything the staff said clicked into place.
Semi-transparent.
Distorted.
Wrong.
She looked like a girl.
A young woman, actually.
Long hair drifting unnaturally, like it was underwater.
A white dress clinging to her form.
Except it wasn't normal fabric.
It flickered.
Shifted.
Parts of it looked solid.
Parts of it… didn't.
And yeah.
Unfortunately.
Very unfortunately.
My brain decided to function at full clarity right at that moment.
Because the "semi-transparent" part?
Oh, I understood that immediately.
"…That is NOT fair."
I stared.
Just for a second.
Okay, maybe two.
Because yeah, through the faint shimmer of that dress, I could see… her boobs. Her skin. Her thighs.
"Focus," I muttered, dragging a hand down my face.
Focus.
Mission.
Ghost.
Kill.
Easy.
Right?
Right???
Except…
"Help me~"
She took another step closer.
Her voice dragged slightly at the end, breathy in a way that made my brain short-circuit for half a second.
And I hated that.
Because it wasn't just the voice.
It was the way she moved.
Slow.
Unsteady.
Like she was about to collapse.
Like she needed help.
And she was blushing!
But there was something else layered under it.
Something… off.
Her head tilted slightly.
Too smooth.
Too deliberate.
Her eyes locked onto mine.
And that's when I saw it.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Just… empty intent.
[Target detected!]
[Spectral Crawlers]
Oh.
Yeah.
There it is.
Monster.
Good.
That helped.
A lot.
I exhaled, shoulders loosening.
"Alright," I muttered. "Creepy ghost that sounds like it's in the wrong genre."
"Help me~ ah… it hurts…"
My eye twitched again.
"…Stop adding that part."
She just kept walking closer.
Step.
Step.
Glide.
And the closer she got…
The worse it became.
Because the distortion?
Yeah.
It wasn't just the dress.
It was everything.
Her proportions shifted slightly when she moved.
Not enough to look monstrous.
But it definitely looked like something was messing with my brain.
Like it was… adjusting.
Tweaking.
Playing.
Her chest looked a little fuller than before. Not dramatically. Just enough to make me question if I imagined it. Her hips curved a bit more when she stepped forward, her silhouette subtly sharpening into something way more… distracting than a ghost had any right to be.
And her face?
Yeah.
That changed too.
Not in a horror way.
Not in a "I'm about to eat your soul" way.
But in a way that made my mind go blank and my 'below' react like I was stuck in a "smash or pass" quiz.
"…why does she look more into this the closer she gets?"
Her expression softened, lips parting slightly, eyes half-lidded in a way that absolutely did not match the whole "lost helpless spirit" act.
It was wrong.
Completely wrong.
And somehow way more effective.
Because now my brain wasn't just hesitating.
It was confused.
Very confused.
And not just my brain.
I shifted my weight slightly, clearing my throat, trying very hard to refocus.
"…Yeah no," I muttered under my breath. "This is psychological warfare."
Because seriously.
Ghost? Fine.
Undead? Sure.
But whatever this was?
This was personal.
And I did not appreciate it.
At all.
I clenched my jaw.
"Annoying."
Because I knew what this was.
It's bait.
Designed to mess with your head.
Designed to make you stop.
Second-guess.
Lose timing.
And yeah.
It was working.
Not because I was scared.
But because my brain kept trying to process two things at once.
I groaned softly.
"This is stupid."
She got closer.
Close enough now that I could see the faint shimmer of her body.
Close enough that the illusion sharpened.
And yeah.
That "distress"?
Definitely not normal distress.
"Help me… please…"
Her hand reached out slightly.
Fingers trembling.
I exhaled sharply.
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