The Apostle of Intimacy

Capturing high-ranking demons is enjoyable, but it can grow tedious after a while. Sometimes, I would pursue other endeavors. Last year, or perhaps the year before, acquiring the Charm skill was one of those small diversions.

I hadn’t realized that not hunting demons for an extended period would lead to the ‘Void’ status effect. That was when I first discovered it. While maintaining the ‘Void’ status effect might look cool externally, it actually comes with many inconveniences.

Honestly, I didn’t mind the stat decrease. However, as the effect grew, NPCs would either flee from me or turn hostile, which became quite bothersome. Though it would disappear after defeating a high-ranking demon, once etched onto my status window, it would remain hidden and inactive.

Of course, my concept was that of a demon hunter, and since I hunted demons daily, I didn’t pay it much mind at first. I simply let it be.

Amidst all this, I found myself wanting to level up my Charm skill again.

The Charm skill, as its name suggests, is one that entices targets. Thus, my chosen method was to use Charm on Rabi.

Rabi, or Raphael Carton, was a named mage in his own right, yet he lacked popularity, save for his appearance. Perhaps it was because he was the youngest in the Magic Tower, but his performance was quite subpar.

His backstory described him as poor but brilliant, having barely managed to gain entry into the Magic Tower. While I had encountered him several times due to his involvement in crucial progression quests, it was all merely a part of his character setting.

Players uninterested in such roleplaying would never bother raising him, given his abysmal rewards and his performance as a companion, which was the worst among all mages. Rabi, being young, was constantly wailing and complaining, which was tiresome. Furthermore, due to his impoverished background, I had to provide everything for him, from equipment to even a single handkerchief, making it quite cumbersome.

Even if Rabi possessed the ‘genius’ trait, there were countless mages readily available who were immediately useful. Any mage in this game would perform above average, especially those already equipped to some extent.

Of course, I paid no mind to such things. Rabi’s face was simply too much to my liking; purely based on looks, he could rival Faust, the most popular character.

‘Can I just choose like that?’ I thought. I needed to level up my Charm skill, and if given a choice, a handsome one would be preferable, wouldn’t it? Even if it was just a game, I was still human and had feelings. Besides, I wasn’t picking him to be a permanent companion.

At that time, I still held the position of the Magic Tower’s Sage. There was no particular reason to entrust it to anyone else. Although all quests were completed and I had no further business there, the Magic Tower’s magical greenhouse was useful, so I occasionally visited.

I didn’t do much. I simply took in an NPC who was always strapped for cash and couldn’t even use a magical workbench, raised his affection to a certain level, and then cast Charm on him under the pretense of increasing his magic resistance.

Charm was also a skill, meaning it could fail if the target’s resistance was too high. It was a win-win: I benefited from leveling my Charm skill, and Rabi gained experience. Moreover, I was able to gather additional information about the skill’s effects.

Once charmed, affection would skyrocket to the maximum level, but upon release, it would temporarily drop even lower than its original state. While it would eventually recover over time, I resorted to a trick to quickly raise the skill level.

If you engaged in intimacy while in a somewhat friendly state, affection would increase. So, I kept using the Charm skill until it took effect, then immediately released it and kissed him. After the event concluded and we rose, I would cast it again, release it once it worked, and then kiss him once more, repeating the cycle.

When he became too susceptible to Charm, I would take him out as a companion, level him up, and then repeat the charming process. By the time I reached max level 25 with Charm, Rabi had also reached max character level.

“Huh. Now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I last hunted a demon, but I haven’t entered the Void state.”

It seemed that engaging in intimacy prevented the Void debuff from activating. After that, I conducted all sorts of experiments, but everything only managed to slightly slow down the Void’s progression. Simple contact, such as carrying dogs or cats, or leading non-aggressive monsters, couldn’t eliminate it entirely. However, I realized that entering ‘intimacy mode’ not only stopped the widening of the ‘hole’ but even allowed it to heal.

“I’ve been here too long. I’m going back to hunt demons now.”

“Sage, please, just let me come with you, won’t you?”

“Ah, since I’m grateful to you for some things, I’ll hand over the Magic Tower to you.”

Even if he was just an NPC, it felt a bit wrong to simply leave after having tormented him so much. So, I handed over the position of Magic Tower Master to him. His stats and conditions were more than sufficient.

I slipped the Tower Master’s ring onto Rabi’s finger and smiled.

“I’m not the Sage anymore, so you can speak to me informally now. You can just call me by my name, alright?”

“I don’t need things like this! I’m strong too! I can fight by your side!”

“No. You’re weak. You’re like a sheet of paper. And if I bring a companion, the patterns get messed up.”

If a companion is strong, it’s boring for me. If they’re weak, their constant crying and whining are annoying. Plus, the messed-up patterns are also a nuisance. If I had only intended to simply clear the game, I would have finished it long ago.

“You’re the Sage now. I’ll visit occasionally—goodbye—”

And then I simply left. There was nothing more to it. I just opened the world map and used warp magic.

“Sir Haut? I feel like you just said something incredibly serious, like the world ending?”

“No, you have nothing to worry about. There’s no expert like me when it comes to demon subjugation, so what’s there to be concerned about?”

Seeing Nocturne trembling behind me, I waved my hand dismissively and chuckled. The fluttering sprout above his head brought a sense of calm to my mind. As I giggled, Rabi narrowed his eyes. ‘Hm? What’s wrong?’ I wondered.

As I tilted my head and looked at him, Rabi asked me with an incredibly serious expression.

“Pata, what is that?”

“Nocturne. Well… if I were to introduce him…”

‘What should I say? A hamster? A half-melted marshmallow? Does that sound a bit…off?’ After a moment’s thought, I blurted out,

“The next Apostle.”

“That thing, is that the next… Apostle?”

“He’s incredibly lucky, you see. What better condition could there be for an Apostle of Fortune?”

“Do you know about Bebe’s fate?”

“I know. You told me she died a hundred years ago.”

At my reply, Rabi wore an inexpressible look. ‘Why are all these kids acting like this?’ I thought. Though the subject had changed, their expressions when looking at me seemed identical. They all behaved as if they were peering into something beyond a mist.

“Are you… unaffected?”

“What do you take me for, to say such a thing? Of course, I’m sad. When I first found out, I lost my mind and cried for three whole days.”

“Then how can you propose to establish such an insignificant being as a new Apostle?”

‘Why is that even an issue?’ I retorted somewhat irritably.

“Bebe is Bebe, I’m telling you. Nocturne cannot fill Bebe’s place; Nocturne is simply Nocturne. Rabi is Rabi, and Bodangbo is Bodangbo. Nothing can replace anything else. What kind of foolish things are you saying?”

I neither raised my voice nor grew angry. I spoke calmly, as if reading from a book. ‘After all, I wasn’t angry. There was no reason to shout.’ Though I felt frustrated by his behavior, I supposed there had to be some reason behind it.

If anyone else had pulled such a stunt, I would have grabbed them by the collar and shaken them senseless. But this was Rabi.

Rabi, who had been fuming alone, suddenly burst into tears. ‘I really don’t know why he cries so much. I’d noticed it before; he seemed to cry at the slightest provocation.’

I knew that weaker characters tended to have richer emotional scripts, but honestly, it felt like he had cried more than Bebe ever did. Still, perhaps because he was so handsome, it wasn’t unsightly. ‘A beauty’s tears are quite appealing in their own way,’ I mused.

“Have you ever, not once, considered what thoughts I harbored, while waiting for you?”

“Why are you suddenly using honorifics after speaking informally? You’re the Sage now. It’s awkward to hear; stop it.”

“You’re quibbling over such things at a time like this? You left us behind! Bebe died of exhaustion, waiting for you!”

“Her destiny simply ended there. It’s fine to grieve, but don’t get too lost in it.”

“How can you be so nonchalant?!”

‘I’m sad too. But it’s not like I can do anything about it, is it? What am I supposed to do about people dying when their time comes?’

There were indeed NPC interaction animations where they would grieve if someone nearby died. They might react with shock or flee upon seeing a corpse on the road, while evil-aligned NPCs might even loot bodies for valuables.

However, this reaction felt a bit excessive. ‘Is it because I’ve known him since the very beginning?’ I pondered.

“I’m not nonchalant. But everyone dies except for me, don’t they? No matter how much I cherish and love them, they eventually die. I’m the only one left; isn’t it too cruel to demand that I grieve endlessly?”

Even at this very moment, countless NPCs must be dying. They might encounter bandits on the road, get attacked by monsters, die fighting each other, or even foolishly drown while crossing a river. That’s the kind of world this is.

Of course, Bebe was special to me. Rabi and Bodangbo are special too. But Rabi and Bodangbo are named characters. They are alive simply because their very essence of soul is different.

“Humans die. While giving affection despite knowing this is unavoidable for me as a human, if I fall too deeply into sorrow, I won’t be able to do anything. If I become unable to do anything, this world will simply end. Is that what you want?”

If I became too immersed and stopped playing the game, this world would end, wouldn’t it?

At my words, Rabi merely gaped, unable to utter a sound, like a mute person who had swallowed honey. I gently set Bodangbo, whom I had been holding, down beside me. Bodangbo looked around, seemingly wondering what was happening, too bewildered to speak. I patted him, assuring him it was alright.

Then, I spread my arms wide towards Rabi.

“Want to feel my chest?”

“Pata, that is truly an abrupt thing to say.”

“Hmm, someone told me this would make you feel better, but I guess not everything can be trusted.”

“What kind of good-for-nothing scoundrel said such a thing?!”

Even as he protested, he shuffled closer and collapsed into my embrace. He had quite a bit of weight. Feeling his body temperature so distinctly felt even stranger than usual. I tried to ignore the odd sensation and hugged Rabi, patting his back.

“This won’t make the anger go away.”

“Yeah. I see. Can’t be helped then.”

“We waited for you for too long.”

“You don’t have to wait anymore, now.”

Rabi lifted his head from my shoulder and looked up at me.