Nicole collapsed onto her bed after shoving Sol out of her room, her limbs soft and powerless.
That almost bone-crushing hug, like he wanted to press her into his very body, and that sudden sneak-attack kiss with tongue… all of it left her heart in chaos.
"Too disrespectful! How could he do something like that to the boss?!"
Nicole rolled back and forth on the bed in flustered frustration.
She was the boss of the Cunning Hares, and Sol—just a small-time employee—had dared to cross the line. Outrageous.
Today, he'd actually dared to ask the boss for a wish that required her to hug him first, and then brazenly trick her into a stolen kiss.
At this rate… she didn't dare imagine what he might try in the future.
That night, Nicole was destined to lose sleep.
Meanwhile, back in his own room, Sol wasn't exactly at peace either. That encounter with Nicole had been plenty stimulating for him as well.
He'd never been one to close his door when sleeping—but tonight, for the first time, he shut it tight.
The next morning, the sun rose as usual.
Sol woke from his sleep, washed up, and changed into a fresh set of clean clothes from head to toe.
Sitting on his bed, he pulled up today's system interface.
Today was his tenth pull—guaranteed to be a purple card.
"May the Blue Goddess of Wisdom bless me."
After a brief prayer, he tapped the draw button.
In today's card pool, the white, green, and blue rarities vanished—only purple and gold spun in rotation.
Dun dun dun, dun-dun-dun-dun!
A purple card popped out at last.
[Skill · Lightning-Shadow Hand: Through a special training method, your arms and hands become ten times more dexterous; speed of arms and hands increases tenfold. Fast as lightning, shadows unseen! (This skill was invented by a master masseur, and comes with a set of master-level massage knowledge. Legend says that with just a light touch, anyone will make a strange expression.)]
"A purple skill from a massage master, huh? Guess there really are experts in every field." Sol chuckled, but he was pleased. "Tenfold dexterity and speed in my hands and arms—that's a massive boost to my combat power."
Crushing the purple card, he felt a mysterious force strengthening both arms, along with a flood of knowledge pouring into his mind.
He'd gained [Lightning-Shadow Hand] at full mastery, along with its training method and a master-level massage skill set.
Indeed, the purple rarity lived up to its name.
Sol activated his [Zhongli's Wallet Replica], rubbing thumb and forefinger together to conjure a coin of the smallest Denny denomination out of thin air.
A twitch of his fingers, and the coin turned into a streak of silver light, dancing back and forth between his fingertips.
Watching his now unbelievably nimble fingers and the coin leaving afterimages, Sol nodded in satisfaction.
With his [All-Weapon Mastery] skill, he knew exactly how much this purple card boosted his fighting power.
If he could only swing one strike in a given moment before, now—with this skill—maybe not ten, but easily six in the same span.
Enemies who could block one or two strikes before wouldn't stand a chance against six in a row.
In other words, a swing that took 0.1 seconds before would now take only 0.02 seconds.
Five times the blade speed—deadly for sneak attacks.
As they say, in all martial arts, speed is the only unbreakable truth.
Looked like he was about to make a name for himself across all of New Eridu as the man with the fastest blade.
"But… what's this 'light touch that makes anyone show a strange expression' about?"
Rubbing his chin, Sol was intrigued by that part of the skill description.
On impulse, he used the [Lightning-Shadow Hand] skill in combination with his master-level massage knowledge and pressed his own waist.
At ten times the speed, what looked like one press was actually ten.
A jolt like electricity shot through his waist and spread through his whole body.
Sol shivered, a strange expression flashing across his face.
No doubt about it—the massage effect was off the charts.
If he'd had this skill before crossing over, he'd have been called "Rich Lady's Best Friend" and "King of Happy Endings" for sure.
As he caught his breath, a darker application occurred to him.
If he used this in a fight, sneaking in a single touch, the opponent would almost certainly open a fatal gap—enough for him to win in a single blow.
Whether the person would feel good or bad about it… well, that was another question.
Testing further, Sol began practicing on himself again.
Not because it was too enjoyable—oh no, purely to challenge his weak spots.
Ten minutes later, his "weak spot challenge" failed. He had still lost to the master-level massage.
As expected, the massage master who created a purple-grade skill was on a completely different level—far beyond someone whose greatest luxury before had been a $998 foot massage package.
And if even his willpower crumbled under it, then probably no one in this world could endure it either.
In high spirits, Sol strolled over to the Cunning Hares' breakfast table, practically floating.
Seeing him , Billy lowered his voice with curiosity. "Boss Sol, did you spend the night watching Monica the Great Sister too?"
Human fans from the Monica the Great Sister club always had this same floaty look after a night of binge-watching—exactly the way Sol looked now.
"Get lost," Sol said flatly. "This is from a massage."
"Massage?" Billy grinned knowingly. "I get it."
Just like certain "root bath" services at some clinics—those who know, know. Those who don't… even if you explained, they wouldn't.
Seeing Billy's weird, lewd expression, Sol scoffed. "Get what, you chicken-head!"
Before Billy could react, Sol's fingers darted out, applying a special massage to Billy's shoulder.
Since Billy was a robot, Sol doubled the strength compared to what he'd used on himself.
With his extremely sensitive sensors, Billy let out a chicken's cry before collapsing into his chair.
Now he really understood what Sol meant.
This massage technique was absurd.
Nicole, with two dark circles under her eyes, walked out of her room and saw both Sol and Billy's states. "You two are just… too much!" she said with disgust.
Just a moment ago, she'd been wondering how to face Sol today—but now she wasn't worried at all.
From the kitchen, Anby Demara emerged with an unreadable look on her usually expressionless face. "…."
Seeing this, Sol decided it was time to show off. "Alright, time for you to witness the power of a massage master."
Leaping from his chair, he quickly gave both Anby and Nicole a double dose of the technique.
Nicole went limp in her chair, everything suddenly making sense.
This massage… it was unreal. Just one squeeze, and her whole body relaxed as if she'd gone back to the safety of her mother's womb.
A chill went down her spine—if Sol had used this on her last night, she might already be pregnant.
Clearly, she needed to keep her distance from him from now on.
At most, maybe let him massage her before bed—and immediately throw him out afterward.
Yes. That was the plan.
Anby furrowed her brows and let out an adorable hum.
This feeling… it was so comfortable… yet so strange.
Clapping his hands, Sol grinned to himself. Now this… this is going to be fun.