Chapter 11
My brother, who’d been sprawled on the sofa panting, slowly struggled to his feet.
He looked as though he’d just showered in sweat, but strangely, his eyes were full of life.
Well, of course. The mana created by burning fat with the Vitality Conversion Method must have seeped into his body, even if only in a faint trickle.
He probably couldn’t fully sense that power yet, but it was only a matter of time before he noticed the new force flowing through him.
“Whew. I really thought I was going to die. I had no idea it would hurt that much.”
“I warned you beforehand. I told you it would hurt.”
After grumbling like that, my brother had collapsed in exhaustion. Now he slowly felt his newly slimmed-down stomach and seemed to notice something had changed.
“Huh? Wait a second.”
His belly, which had been padded with fat, had shrunk enough for him to feel the difference. Despite having felt the pain of his fat being physically squeezed and burned away, he sprang to his feet.
Then, after repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists, he shouted in a shocked voice,
“Hey! My body feels so light! It’s not just that I lost belly fat—there’s something hot moving around inside me! Could I really have awakened?!”
The mana I’d implanted was faint, but… he’d feel the change because something that hadn’t been there before now existed inside him.
Since I’d only just implanted mana through the Vitality Conversion Method, he wouldn’t be able to use it perfectly yet. Even so, that small amount of mana should have boosted his physical abilities beyond those of an ordinary person.
Of course, without training, he’d only be an ordinary person who was a little tougher and less prone to fatigue.
But this was the first step toward gaining strength beyond human limits.
As my brother kept feeling his belly, a strange gleam suddenly appeared in his eyes.
“Hey, Suyeon! This is amazing! Let’s start a business with this ability! If we charged people to help them lose weight and awaken them, we’d make a fortune, right?! We could open a shop and advertise, ‘We’ll awaken anyone!’ and then…!”
Smack—!
“Ow!”
Mom’s vicious smack on his back cut off his nonsense at once.
“You little punk! Your sister barely survived that terrifying place and gained this ability, and the first thing you think about is making money? And if you give just anyone superpowers and they cause some kind of trouble, your sister might end up being held responsible!”
After Mom’s reprimand, delivered with a smack to the back, my brother rubbed his stomach and pouted as if he’d been wronged. Just then, Dad, who’d been quietly watching, cleared his throat and spoke in a grave voice.
“Your mother is right.”
After watching everything for a while, Dad seemed to have sized up the situation. He spoke calmly.
“Increasing the number of Awakened recklessly is too dangerous. Anyone would want to get their hands on Suyeon’s ability—especially a massive organization like the government.”
Whoa… What’s this? Our dad? An ordinary middle-aged family man with this much insight…?
It was true. This ability could increase the number of Awakened without any of the risks involved in entering a newly appeared Gate, surviving, and adapting to mana.
And if someone received it regularly, they could definitely increase the amount of mana in their body, too.
Organizations like corporations would be eager to get their hands on it, not just the government.
“By the way, Suyeon. That ability you just used. Can you help someone lose weight without awakening them?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. I can, as long as I absorb all the energy made by burning their fat—the power that would otherwise cause an awakening.”
“That’s a relief.”
Dad pushed up his glasses and reached a very practical, rational conclusion.
“If you leave out the dangerous power of awakening and offer only the weight-loss effect, that changes things. If the difference before and after is that noticeable, it’d be nothing short of a miracle for people struggling to lose weight. It’d be better to quietly offer something like diet massages exclusively to women.”
Mom’s eyes lit up, and she agreed with Dad.
“You’re right! We could make it strictly by appointment, one-on-one, like personal training, and carefully screen the clients to prevent any problems. It might also help dispel any suspicions that Suyeon is Awakened!”
No, just getting a massage wouldn’t make someone’s weight drop that dramatically! They’d definitely think it was a superpower—in other words, an Awakened ability!!
Well, a weight-loss ability probably wouldn’t make much sense to other people. But what could I do? I’d already dressed it up as something like that.
Ugh. Would it be better to tell the government? If I said I’d awakened to this ability… maybe they’d realize it wasn’t all that valuable.
It might be easier to hide if I dressed it up as a lie mixed with a little truth, rather than keeping it completely secret until someone found out later.
I really had a lot to think about.
Of course, disguising it as a diet massage was the perfect excuse to absorb mana legally and safely. But for some reason, a sense of self-reproach washed over me, and I felt thoroughly dejected.
“Then, Suyeon, could you try that massage on me first? The world feels so dangerous these days. I think I should be able to protect myself to some extent, too.”
Mom came over beside me and subtly offered me her back. My brother, who’d been collapsed face-down on the sofa, cried out in alarm.
“Mom! Absolutely not! It really feels like your belly fat is burning! I’m telling you, it hurts enough to kill you! You’ll pass out!”
“Seeing you scream like that does make me a little worried…”
Mom hesitated at my brother’s words, and I shrugged with an unconcerned expression.
“I made it hurt on purpose when I did it to him.”
“What?”
“It was punishment for snooping through my smartphone. And your belly fat shrank so much you can see the difference, right? Here, get on the scale. Stop lying there and let’s see how much you weigh.”
“Ugh…”
At my words, my brother reluctantly got up and weighed himself.
“Five kilos… I lost that much…? No! My magnificent physique! All that weight I gained from meat and booze!”
He was making a huge fuss, but I knew he’d actually been worried about his ever-growing belly. He always had been.
Well, he’d been going through a lot lately.
“It hurts, but the results are undeniable.”
The Vitality Conversion Method was a technique that burned calories in proportion to how long I stayed in contact and how much pain it caused.
Naturally, the more calories it burned, the more mana it gathered.
“That really does work… Wait, punishment?”
What? You only just realized? You’re so slow.
I grinned at him.
"Thanks to me, you really did awaken, didn’t you? You should be grateful. You’re probably stronger than someone who just awakened through a Gate."
“You evil little brat! You did that on purpose?!”
My brother jumped up in indignation, but this time Dad firmly put his foot down.
“You’re the one who snooped through your little sister’s phone. You have no right to complain. Be quiet.”
With Dad backing me up, my brother fell silent and sprawled back across the sofa.
I laughed to myself at his pathetic state, then carefully placed my hands on Mom’s shoulders and back.
“It might feel a little sore. I’ll start now.”
Unlike when I’d used the Vitality Conversion Method on my brother, I did it with great care and gentleness. Instead of burning her calories all at once, I slowly and smoothly burned them so she’d feel as little pain as possible, then refined the energy and let it flow through her body.
“Oh my! It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as I was worried it would. It just feels like muscle soreness the day after a hard workout. It’s not painless, but it’s definitely bearable!”
“See? Now close your eyes and try to feel the little movements inside your body.”
Following my instructions, Mom focused. Soon, a faint trace of mana began to gather inside her and gradually take shape.
The mana’s weak but unmistakable pulse began to move under my guidance, and I directed its flow toward Mom’s fingertips.
And a little while later…
“Oh, my! Oh, my!”
Though she was flustered by the unfamiliar sensation inside her body, Mom followed my instructions and began to control the mana flowing from her fingertips, little by little.
Let’s see. What would be suitable for Mom…? This should be the simplest option.
I controlled Mom’s mana for her and adjusted it so she could use a simple spell.
Awakened people used a primitive form of magic through instinct and will, but there was no reason to rely on such a crude method!
“All right, now focus on the apple on the table. Imagine moving an invisible hand to grab it.”
Mom looked doubtful, but began concentrating on the apple on the table.
Wobble—
One of the apples on the plate wobbled as if an invisible hand had touched it.
“O-oh my! Honey! Look at that apple! It moved all by itself!”
“Good grief… She really awakened…”
Telekinesis. The most basic and intuitive form of magic, converting mana into physical force.
Dad and my brother couldn’t take their eyes off the unmistakable miracle before them. That meant the demonstration of my first customer’s awakening had been a complete success.
“You’re not used to it yet, so you’ll need to practice a little. But if you keep practicing until you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to use it like you have another invisible hand.”
This invisible hand was more convenient than you might expect. Its range, strength, and grip could be adjusted depending on how much mana you had. And if you used it as if it were just another hand, it didn’t consume much mana.
It was such a convenient and versatile kind of magic that there had even been a school devoted to learning and using it.
“All right, Dad, you’re next, right? Mom and my brother have both had their turn, so it wouldn’t be right to leave you out.”
When I beckoned, brushing my hands off, Dad’s awestruck expression softened into a faint smile, and he shook his head.
“I’ll save mine for next time.”
“Huh? Why? Are you scared it’ll hurt?”
“No. There’s no such thing as a miracle without a price. There’s no way giving someone else this kind of power wouldn’t put some kind of burden on you, the one performing it. You seem to have overdone it today, so get some good rest.”
Dad’s thoughtful words gave my conscience the tiniest twinge.
A burden? Not at all. If anything, I’d absorbed all the mana that Mom and my brother’s bodies couldn’t handle, so my own mana was multiplying like crazy. It was a total win!
The truth was always simple… but I couldn’t exactly dismiss Dad’s thoughtful concern. Besides, if I said I could use this ability without limit, I might get dragged all over the neighborhood to give people diet massages.
Pretending this ability had a drawback would help me maintain my peaceful life in all sorts of ways.
“Okay… I don’t really know, but if you say so, Dad.”
I kneaded my own shoulders to make it look like I was a little tired, and Dad gave a small nod.
Mom laughed as she watched the apple rolling around on the table by itself. My brother rubbed his stomach, still feeling the pain, while Dad looked at me with pride and concern.
And so, a day that had been confusing and awkward in so many ways began to draw to a close.