Chapter 131. Festival (2)
"Nngh..."
The back of my head hurts.
Maybe I pushed myself too hard—my whole body aches.
Liliana was still nestled in my arms. She must've been exhausted too, because she was sleeping deeply.
Squeeze squeeze.
"Mmm..."
I stimulated my senses by kneading the soft boobs still in my hand.
The horns and wings that had sprouted from Liliana were now gone.
"So weird."
I touched the spot where the horns were, but it felt the same. Completely flat, no trace left behind.
'Awakening... maybe?'
I awakened during sex, so maybe Liliana did too while waiting for me and masturbating?
Nah, that's a bit much... Even for a succubus, wouldn't that be too pathetic?
I checked my smartwatch—it was 7 p.m.
I'd come back and gone to bed before 9, so I'd slept about ten hours.
But why hasn't she woken up yet?
Poke.
"Ahhn..."
I pinched Liliana's nipple with the hand still on her chest.
"Wake up. You'll get groggy if you sleep too long."
"Mmm... ngh."
Pinch, pinch.
As I toyed with her nipple, Liliana rubbed against me and clung tighter.
"Liliana. We need to go get chicken skewers."
"Mmm... chicken skewers."
At the mention of chicken skewers, Liliana perked up and opened her eyes.
"Haaah..."
As she stretched, her voluptuous chest seemed to flaunt its size, as if inviting me in.
"It's already night. The festival must've started by now."
"Let's hang out..."
Liliana yawned as she looked at me.
"Of course. You want to shower first?"
"Yeah..."
I sent Liliana to the bathroom and checked my smartwatch.
I had a ton of unread messages.
I started by replying to Professor Im Sol's message from around the time the survival exam ended.
- Professor Im Sol: Good work on the survival exam. Drop by the lab sometime.
- Me: Thank you. I'll stop by tomorrow or the day after!
There were more messages below that.
- Surin noona: You really worked hard today. Let me treat you to a meal during the festival.
- Lucy: That match was awesome! Wanna hang out tonight?!
- Lumi: I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the duel arena this morning. I saw the video though. You were amazing, Hoyeon.
"Whew..."
I told Lucy we could hang out tomorrow.
I also told Lumi the same—that it was fine and we could meet tomorrow. I thanked Surin noona and told her I'd see her later.
Okay, done.
Now to get ready to head out.
After Liliana finished her shower, I took one too.
Since I hadn't gone out in a while, I even styled my hair a bit.
Then I turned on my smartwatch. Time to check the public opinion on Everyday.
As expected, my name was once again at the top.
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[BREAKING!!!!! Lee Hoyeon's dual attributes revealed]
In a friendly match against Shin Dongmin, he revealed ice magic.
Just check the video at the bottom. Not edited, not fake.
I saw it in person—he was insanely cool... With a single gesture, he froze the whole sea. Gave me chills. The rowdy audience went dead silent.
He still looked tired from the survival exam that ended just yesterday.
Sunken cheeks, bloodshot eyes, deep dark circles—he looked exhausted.
But still, he was insanely cool.
That aura or whatever you call it? He was just unreal lol.
I bet everyone who was there felt the same.
Anyway, lately it's all been hidden cam pics of celebs, so stop looking at trash and check out rising star Lee Hoyeon!
[Video]
Hit that like button
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[Fr fr, he was dope as hell.]
[Lee Hoyeon's the cool one, why are you getting the likes?]
[This video's a hidden cam too. You bastard lolol.]
[ㄴ Yo, for real. It is a hidden cam lol.]
[I survived to the final day of the survival exam, and 80 people teamed up just to take down Lee Hoyeon lol. He still got first place.]
[ㄴ No way? That was an exam, right?]
[ㄴ You new here? Last year in the battle royale, the entire C-Class ganged up at the start and pissed everyone off, so 200 students banded together to wipe them out lol. That's why C-Class ranked dead last.]
[That fucker was hanging out with girls during the survival exam. Bet he was just having sex and overslept.]
[ㄴ I'm saving this one to fap to.]
[ㄴ Cut the crap. Anyone who's done the survival exam knows. I was so tired I slept for over 12 hours. Lee Hoyeon's stamina is just unreal.]
[Downvoted. Later.]
"Hmm. Not bad."
No more crap about it being fake or rigged.
Looks like people only believe it when you show your power often.
Public opinion was really good... but what bothered me was Moon Surin.
Besides posts about me, the rest of the popular posts were mostly candid pics of celebrities—especially a lot of Moon Surin.
'She should be about to break...'
I'm not hoping for some broken-down version of her, but she's holding up way too well. I still don't know how to crack her.
"Ah, right. Elf's Essence."
Suddenly, Elf's Essence popped into my head.
Time to take it.
I dug through the subspace pouch I'd tossed in the living room and pulled out the Elf's Essence.
"What weird stuff did you pick up now? Is that a bunch of mana stones?"
Liliana, drying her hair, looked at the Elf's Essence with curiosity.
"Nah, it's an elixir. I got lucky and found it. I'm gonna drink it now—can you watch over me for a bit?"
"Okay."
There was almost no chance of anything going wrong, but just in case, I asked Liliana.
I swallowed the Elf's Essence.
Gulp.
The moment it entered my mouth, sweetness spread through me. Definitely not something you'd taste in the human world. The scent of the forest seemed to flood my mind.
After I swallowed it all, I checked the mirror to see if my face had changed, but I didn't really notice anything different.
Crack. Crunch.
But something was happening inside my body.
"Fuck... you should at least tell me it's going to hurt...! Aagh."
"A-are you okay? Hey! Don't die! We still have to eat chicken skewers!"
Snap.
My blood vessels, mana circuits, and organs were forcibly shifting.
They were rearranging into the most beautiful and efficient positions and sizes.
My face hadn't changed a bit, which meant the transformation inside was massive.
"Aaagh... fuck, that hurts."
"Geez. Come here. Let me hug you."
Liliana, not knowing what was going on, just spread her arms and embraced me.
I leaned into her arms and slowly examined the changes in my body.
First off, my head felt clearer.
My body overflowed with energy, and my mana circuits had expanded.
"Nice."
Now this is a proper elixir.
Swish, swish.
I threw a few punches into the air like shadowboxing.
Felt good.
"...You've completely lost it."
Liliana clicked her tongue as she watched me.
*
The festival was in full swing at the Academy.
The Celestia Festival had been burning with excitement since the first day.
While Lee Hoyeon was fast asleep, the first-year cadets had been recovering and going out to enjoy the festival.
Street vendors only permitted during festival time lined the streets, and Lucy was enjoying the festivities with her friends.
"This is so good."
"Totally. So glad we came out!"
Lucy's friends giggled as they ate grilled monster meat skewers from a vendor.
While the other first-years were still recovering from the survival exam, Lucy and her friends had pushed through their fatigue to enjoy the festival.
"What are you doing tomorrow, Lucy?"
"Me? Probably hanging out with Lee Hoyeon and Lumi."
"Waa~ So jealous. We want to hang out with Lee Hoyeon too."
"Seriously. He's got that cold, aloof city-guy vibe, doesn't he?"
"...Lee Hoyeon?"
Lucy blinked at that unexpected description. She'd always seen him as a diligent, kind, and somewhat playful friend.
"Yeah, he barely talks to anyone outside a small group. Kinda keeps his distance."
"Right~ I said hi a few times and he never once greeted me first."
"Hmm..."
Now that she thought about it, Lucy had never seen him being friendly with anyone else.
"I think he might be into you and Lumi."
"W-what?"
Lucy stopped mid-bite, eyes wide.
"Right? He's always hanging out with you two."
"I get that! He always says hi first too."
"Eeeek! I'm so jealous!"
The girls surrounding Lucy squealed and clapped their hands together.
"...Hmm."
Could that really be true? Now that she thought about it, it did make sense...
Just then, new customers walked into the skewer stall Lucy and her friends had just left.
While her friends kept squealing, Lucy spotted the newcomers.
"Ah, so this is a chicken skewer."
"Oh... it's tasty...!"
Lee Hoyeon stood there with a girl she'd never seen before, eating skewers together affectionately.
The girl wore sunglasses, so Lucy couldn't recognize her, but she wasn't someone Lucy was familiar with.
"Say ah~ I'll feed you."
"What are you doing? We're outside."
"Come on. I paid for it, and you're the one eating it. Gonna refuse?"
"Haa... later, okay."
Nom.
"..."
Girlfriend, obviously. She was even feeding him.
'Right. We're not anything. Why should it matter if he has a girlfriend?'
Even though she knew that, her chest felt heavy.
Lucy turned and ran in the opposite direction, not wanting to see any more.
"Huh? Lucy! Where are you going!"
"Hey, we said we wouldn't tease her! Lucy! Wait up!"
Not knowing what had happened, her friends just assumed she was sulking and chased after her.
*
"Hey, I told you to quit messing around."
I flicked Liliana on the head as she kept trying to feed me more skewers.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Once wasn't enough, so I did it three times.
"Sorry! Ow. I said I'm sorry! That hurts! This is misogyny!"
"You crazy succubus, where'd you even pick that up from."
You're not even human to begin with.
Flick.
I smacked her forehead one more time as she spouted nonsense.
"Aagh! I heard you'd never get hit by a guy if you said that!"
Yeah, maybe that works like a shield... just not on me.
"I believe in gender equality, so I hit everyone. Also, if you say that stuff, our stream's gonna get canceled."
"Gasp. Really? Those damn degenerate viewers taught me the wrong thing!"
Liliana fumed, claiming she'd been tricked.
"Haa..."
She looked adorable munching on skewers while holding her forehead and whining, but man, she was hard to take out in public.
I'd cast a light recognition-dampening spell on the two of us, so to others she probably just looked like a normal girl.
Of course, people who were close to me might still recognize me, but so far I'd been lucky not to run into any.
I glanced around—no acquaintances in sight.
Well, all the important heroines were first-years, and since they held out until the end of the exam, they were probably sleeping now.
With no real worries, I enjoyed the festival with Liliana.
"Next is that one! We have to try the takoyaki! Mister! 50 takoyaki, please!"
"Fifty?! How are you going to eat that many?!"
Still, it felt good to finally blow off some of the stress I'd built up during the survival exam.
"Oh, right. Liliana."
"Hm?"
Watching her spear a takoyaki with a toothpick, I remembered something I had to ask.
I needed to find out what that spell was from yesterday.
"Hey, now that I think about it—what was that spell you used yesterday?"