Chapter 61: What's That, It Scares Me...
"Then I'll see you tomorrow evening, author."
"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow, PD."
The two of them had made plans to have dinner together on Sunday evening.
Seo Juhwan scratched the corner of his eye as he looked at his smartphone with the disconnected line.
"So that woman back then was PD Choi Mi-hwa..."
Of course, he had heard her name when he received her number, but he had assumed it was just a coincidence—he never thought it was the same person. After all, even in his previous life, he had only heard her name, never seen her face once.
"Anyway, things worked out well."
At first, he was somewhat flustered, but it turned out to be a good thing—he had made a connection with a capable editor and also developed a good personal relationship.
Choi Mi-hwa was someone who was already making a name for herself in the industry through word of mouth. Thanks to several works she had discovered, even the fledgling management company Funny Books, which had only been launched a year ago, was gaining stock value. It was puzzling why she, a 4-year veteran editor, had left Red Novel, where she originally worked, to move to this new management company.
Seo Juhwan suddenly became curious about Choi Mi-hwa's status window. What kind of talent would such an outstanding editor possess?
"Lucy, show me Choi Mi-hwa's status window."
He had already made contact with Choi Mi-hwa before. When he had saved her, the image of her weeping while cradled in his arms was still fresh in his mind.
Her status window came to mind.
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Height: 161cm
Weight: 53kg
Favorability: B
Current Sexual Desire: C+
Fetishes: Pictophilia (Medium), Narratophilia (Low)
Possessed Talents: Discernment (A/A+), Speed Reading (B+/A+), Communication (C+/B+), Sharp Criticism (C/B+)
Seo Juhwan let out a small exclamation. A woman who liked dirty things—how was that not favorable?
"Oh... truly coveted talents."
His eyes were particularly drawn to Discernment and Speed Reading.
Presumably, Discernment was the ability to see the potential in works. It might even be a broader talent that applied when looking at people and other things as well.
Speed Reading was literally the talent to read text quickly. It made sense how she was able to discover even authors still at the bottom. Without a doubt, she must be reading an enormous amount of text.
On the other hand, the Sharp Criticism talent was somewhat frightening. Rumors he had heard through the grapevine in his previous life came to mind. She was famous as a sharp-tongued critic known for giving feedback that was somewhat harsh.
"Hmm. I really want to obtain it."
If he could obtain either Discernment or Speed Reading, it would be considerable help when writing.
However, the problem was that to obtain a talent, he had to have sex with the other person.
Seducing a woman in a single day and having sex with her?
No matter how he thought about it, the difficulty level was too high.
With Jeong Sora, it was possible because both her fetishes—"Pheromone" and "Chubby body type"—were compatible with him. Moreover, he had spent more than a year with Jeong Sora.
The situation with Choi Mi-hwa was completely different. The only thing he could hope for was that he was her savior, but he questioned whether that alone would be enough. If he attempted something clumsily and failed, he could lose the best editor in his corner.
After pondering for a while, Seo Juhwan shook his head vigorously.
"Tsk. Let's just try it once anyway."
It was too difficult to give up on talents she possessed that he so coveted. In the end, he decided to at least make a subtle probe.
"Lucy, explain the fetishes."
Perhaps there was an answer in the fetishes.
Lucy's explanation came through.
[Pictophilia is a state of addiction to obscene videos, images, texts, and such. Given that it's at the medium level, it seems she quite likes dirty things.]
[Narratophilia is a perversion where one becomes excited by crude language, profanity, provocative speech, and such. Of course, the exact part where excitement occurs differs greatly depending on the individual.]
"Oh..."
Seo Juhwan let out a small exclamation.
She likes obscene material and provocative language.
Somehow, a path seemed to open up.
*
Seo Juhwan had purchased item draws last night and this morning.
[A powerful stroke of luck involving sexuality is at work!]
[Item, Hair~Hair Nutrient has been granted.]
[Item, Charm Boost Lip Balm has been granted.]
The effects of the items from the draw were as follows:
[Hair~Hair Nutrient (x10)]
▶ Effect 1: Supplies nutrition to hair and improves hair condition. If used consistently, you might achieve lustrous, shiny hair.
▶ Effect 2: Prevents and treats hair loss. Prevention is immediate, but treatment takes considerable time depending on the progression.
[Charm Boost Lip Balm]
▶ Effect 1: Increases the charm of the lips. Women might find themselves wanting to kiss those lips?
▶ Effect 2: Prevents chapped lips and regenerates already chapped lips. Continuous care is needed for regeneration.
"Wow! A hair loss treatment!"
Upon seeing the effects of the nutrient, Seo Juhwan became greatly excited.
A hair loss treatment!
Putting aside the nutritional state of hair and hair texture, the fact that he could treat hair loss was nothing short of revolutionary. Even with modern science and technology developing rapidly, hair loss was a field that couldn't be treated. Especially with M-pattern baldness rather than alopecia areata, the best they could do was slow down the rate of loss.
Before regression, Seo Juhwan, at the young age of 24, had to wear a wig due to severe M-pattern baldness. Because it progressed acutely, he had suffered so much stress watching his hair reduce day by day. As a result, on top of M-pattern baldness, he developed alopecia areata and ended up shaving his head completely, tears in his eyes.
Of course, things had changed now with his condition normalizing, but for Seo Juhwan, who had once experienced the terror of hair loss, this item was more than welcome.
Seo Juhwan was very disappointed that only ten nutrients had come out.
"...I need to earn points diligently."
It was a determination stronger than ever before.
To draw the randomly appearing items, he needed points.
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