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[Item: Silken Thread of Lust]

[Rank: C (One-time Consumable)]

[Origin: An artifact formed from a crimson soul-thread of the abyssal widow spider, designed to entangle and bind souls. Modified by the system for the Host’s use.]

[Effects:

> Soul Corridor: Creates a hidden soul link with a female target, establishing the host as Master. By using Perverted Harem Points, the host can infuse lust and deepen her desire for him.

> Web of Perception: Can perceive the target’s thoughts and intentions at any time. Any hostile or opposing intent will be detected instantly.

[Note: Requires direct soul contact between both parties to activate. This effect may not work or even backfire if your soul is weaker than the target’s.

As long as your soul is stronger, the target will remain oblivious to the corridor, even with Prophetic Sight.]

[Cost: Requires 50 PHP per day to maintain. This cost can be drastically reduced as the target’s reverence grows.]

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’Hmm...a bit expensive, but it should work.’

Soren looked at the extremely thin, silver thread-like strand floating in his consciousness and thought.

Although it cost him a whopping 150 PHP to purchase and would cost an extra 50 to maintain, he felt that this was worth it.

For once, he was against directly controlling Mireya into submission right now, as that could backfire very badly.

After all, even if he succeeded, her behaviour and state were bound to change, causing someone to notice her anomaly.

Not to mention, he hadn’t found any such artifact that wouldn’t turn her into someone driven only by pleasure, ultimately messing up her mind.

That wasn’t his intention, as he still needed her after all.

So, Soren decided to use a slow approach.

"Sigh...let’s not attack his soul. He is just a variable, not an enemy." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Just then, Soren heard Mireya again, as she seemed to have finally decided not to go further.

Looking at her expression, she still seemed oblivious that Soren had already got out of her skill: Chrono Snare’s effect.

Rather, she sighed and bit her lip, then began withdrawing her soul from probing Soren’s, slowly pulling her hand away from his head.

’Now!’

But that didn’t mean Soren would let her go. Instead, he immediately activated the Silken Thread of Lust, causing the thin silver strand to disappear abruptly.

Then, his consciousness saw it pierce through his soul before instantly swooping into Mireya’s, carrying a fragment of his essence along with it.

It looked almost like a needle threading their souls together before it abruptly vanished.

Yet Soren could still feel a connection, similar to what he experienced with Frost when forming a beast contract.

Everything happened so fast that before Mireya even managed to remove her hand, the soul corridor was already established, and she hadn’t even noticed.

’System items are always as effective as ever.’

Soren finally let out a smile when he saw Mireya backing out a little before releasing her skill effect on him.

Only now did he notice the ring on her finger glowing faintly with blue mana as she subtly rotated it.

So that was it.

The artifact had likely concealed the skill’s activation or dulled his perception the moment it took effect. No wonder he didn’t realise he was already affected.

*Swoosh!*

The moment the skill effect wore off, Soren abruptly felt his vision change before he returned to his body once again.

"What happened?"

Soren asked immediately as if he didn’t know what happened, acting all confused, his eyes focused on Mireya.

"Oii...did you do something to me just now?"

Then suddenly his expression went as dark as the bottom of a pot before his aura swept forth, pressing Mireya in an instant.

"Hey...wait. I can explain....ugh!"

Mireya was a bit caught off guard by Soren’s quick response as the terrifying aura instantly locked her in place.

*SS-rank Passive, King’s Will!*

Soren hadn’t cancelled the skill yet and was merely keeping its pressure restrained the entire time.

But the instant he stopped holding it back and directed it toward her, Mireya’s body stiffened abruptly.

Her instincts screamed danger as an overwhelming pressure crashed down on her like a tidal wave.

For a fleeting moment, it felt as though she was standing before an ancient behemoth capable of crushing her with a single thought.

Even the mana flowing within her body turned sluggish under that terrifying aura, making it hard for her to activate any skills of hers.

’What? Why is he so strong?’

The situation changed so abruptly that Mireya could only widen her eyes as Soren slowly neared her with that menacing gaze.

"Mireya Solhart, right? Do you know the punishment for attacking a fellow student inside the Academy?"

Soren asked, with a faint anger in his voice.

"I was nice enough to be ready to ruin my own reputation just to help you get over your feelings for me, and you suddenly attack me out of nowhere?"

His deep voice echoed in her ears as his finger pinched her chin, lifting her head up.

Now that he was so close, his aura seemed even more unbearable as Mireya felt so weak that she couldn’t even move.

Her being a Mage and a Prophet didn’t help either.

If Mireya felt his soul was stronger before, then now his aura left her dumbfounded as that halo surrounding him alone made her suffocate.

’Ruin his reputation? What did he mean?’

Yet her attention was on what Soren just said, remembering his frivolous behaviour just now.

Now that she thought about it, Soren did seem to act a bit forcefully when he was ogling and commenting on her body before.

Just because of that, she had a bad impression of him and didn’t even feel guilty when using her skill on him.

’All that was his act?’

"Tch...you don’t look half bad, and you already have such an insidious mind. You were acting all along, right? You weren’t in love with me at all."

Soren didn’t care about her expression and mumbled lightly,

"But I really don’t understand. When exactly did I offend you? Or..."

Soren narrowed his eyes slightly before continuing coldly,

"Are you perhaps a demon spy? It seems I’ll have to inform the academy immediately."

Suddenly, his voice went a bit deeper, as his grip on her chin strengthened, forcing Mireya to let out a painful moan.

To be honest, even if it was an act, Soren was truly angry as this was the first time someone caught him off guard.

He was fine because Mireya didn’t have other intentions than to check his soul. If it were any other time?

Maybe he would die before even using GAP stat.

This world really had all kinds of skills and artifacts that he could never guard against completely.

The only thing he could do was to reach level 100 fast and evolve his class once more.

"W-Wait...S-Soren...y-you are mistaken. I-I am not a demon spy, and I didn’t lie to you. P-Please don’t escalate this further."

This was bad.

This was really bad, and Mireya felt like crying.

From her birth to now, her skill hasn’t let her down even once. Even when she used it on Evan before, she didn’t have an issue.

Maybe that’s why she didn’t think about what she would do if the skill effect failed.

In fact, she had already decided that even if Soren noticed her using a skill, she could simply claim she was testing him, and then turn it back on him, blaming him for being too weak before walking away.

It wasn’t like she attacked him or anything.

But the problem was that this guy was strong.

In fact, so overwhelmingly strong that she couldn’t even stop him from forcefully pinching her chin and lifting her face up.

’Damn...isn’t he an archer? Why is his aura like that of a Warrior stained with blood?’

Mireya felt extremely frustrated.

If Soren really turned her in to the professors, things could get ugly quickly.

Elite Hunter Academy really didn’t like students attacking each other on its premises.

Besides, even if she did get out unscathed, she would still make Soren her enemy, which wasn’t her intention.

Not to mention, he was a Singularity who was unaffected by her Prophetic ability; his strength alone was abnormal.

For a moment, Mireya felt a crisis of life and death as she rapidly began to think about how to get out of the situation.

"You didn’t lie? What do you mean? Do you mean you truly love me?"

Soren conveniently gave her the excuse, though, as he asked, puzzled, only for Mireya to widen her eyes in realisation.

"T-That’s right...S-Soren. Of course, I l-like you."

Yeah, why didn’t she think of that?

As long as she acted in love with him, her erratic behaviour could be explained.

Even if she said she was using her skill to charm him just now, looking at how Soren was reacting, she felt she might even get out of this mess.

So, even though it was extremely shameful, Mireya bit her lip and spoke,

"Otherwise, why would I send you a Love Letter? If I wanted to attack you, can’t I just invite you normally? Why go to such a length?"

Yeah, she only did that ridiculous thing because her Prophecy told her to.

But now that she thought about it, maybe her skill had even foreseen this situation and pushed her into acting this way, just to leave her a way out.

Considering how the Prophecy worked mysteriously, it did make sense.

The more Mireya thought about it, the more she felt right, as her fear slowly vanished, and her gaze returned to calm.

"Oh? T-This..."

As if her composure worked, Soren dodged her eyes a bit guiltily as he loosened his hold on her chin.

Now that she looked at it, he really seemed rather simple.

’Maybe... he really acted rogue just to stop me from liking him? His charm is indeed high, so he must have received plenty of love letters to start behaving like this.’

Mireya thought before steadying herself as the aura around her receded.

However, just as she was about to calm the situation down with her explanation, Soren spoke abruptly,

"Then...kiss me!"

"Hmm?"

For a moment, Mireya felt she had heard it wrong as she looked at Soren, only to see him dead serious.

"Didn’t you say you love me? Then kiss me to prove it. I don’t think you’ll deny such a simple request. In fact, you should be happy, no?"

Soren spoke, making Mireya completley stunned, speechless.

"..."

’The heck!’

The only thing she had in her mind was that the situation couldn’t get any weirder and more absurd than this now, could it?