Wait…
Looking at the phone in her hands and the way she sat frozen in silence, an idea came to me—maybe I could cheer her up, or at least pull her mind away from the tension suffocating the room.
"Eri," I said gently, "have you talked to your parents or your friends?"
She looked up at me as if I had just spoken a completely foreign language—eyes wide, genuinely bewildered.
Right.
She never even considered it.
Even though she had plenty of time—while I was showering, while we were eating—her mind had been too overwhelmed to think of something so obvious.
In a single day, she'd woken up in a stranger's house, trapped under a government program she never asked for.
Even if I had given her the controller to her collar, adjusting to all of this in a single day was impossible.
So forgetting something like calling family… was only natural.
But instead of brightening up, she grew even more withdrawn.
Her shoulders trembled slightly as she stared at the screen in her hands, her expression hollow.
"…Do I really get to talk with them?" she whispered.
"What do you mean? That's literally why I bought you a phone—"
And then it hit me like a punch to the gut.
She wasn't asking about the device.
She wasn't asking about the rules.
She was asking from the place of a broken heart.
She meant:
"After what happened to me… will they even pick up?"
"Do they still think of me as their daughter?"
"Did they give up on me the moment the government took me?"
A painful realization crept into my chest.
She wasn't confused about the phone.
She was drowning in the thought that her parents hadn't tried to help her at all.
And that kind of hurt… it was deeper than I thought.
She looked up at me, her eyes hesitant.
"What… what should I say to them?"
Seeing her so down, I reached out and gently patted her back.
She didn't resist—not a punch, not a shove.
Honestly, I half expected her to snap at me, call me pervert, scum or worse.
But this quiet, defeated version of her… it cut deeper than any word could.
I tried to keep my voice soft, warm.
"Just tell your parents that you're safe. And tell your friends that you're here with me—they can come see you anytime. The welfare rules only prevent parents or relatives from buying or visiting you… not friends."
She nodded slowly, still looking down at her phone, silent.
Her hesitation was understandable.
The welfare system for "love dolls" was ridiculous—it literally blocked family members from intervening, claiming it would 'disturb the owner.'
Total bureaucratic nonsense.
After a pause, Eriko lifted her gaze and met my eyes, her expression serious.
"Kiyoshi… I need some time alone… to make a call."
Ah. Right.
Of course.
I was the one hovering, meddling in her space.
A small, weary laugh escaped me.
"Alright… take all the time you need. I'll step out."
I looked at her apologetically, trying to convey that I wasn't going anywhere far.
She was going to call her parents and friends—there must be so much she needed to say, so much to catch up on.
I just had to give her the space to do it.
"Sure… go ahead and make the call."
With that, I left her alone in the hall and headed into my room.
Hopefully she wouldn't snitch on me about the earlier conversation… though honestly, I wouldn't blame her if she did.
I let out a long sigh and flopped onto my bed, pulling up my inventory panel.
The rewards were still sitting there, untouched.
My eyes fell on the manual for Ratchasa Vajra Body, a body‑tempering technique.
"Let's at least check this one…"
I took the manual out.
The cover alone looked ancient—thick parchment, strange symbols burned into the surface.
But when I opened it and tried reading the first page…
"Huh? What language even is this?"
Before I could even search it up, the letters on the page suddenly shifted.
Moved.
Then started glowing.
A soft golden radiance bloomed from the parchment.
"What— what the hell?!"
The letters lifted off the page like they had a life of their own, swirling upward in thin trails of light.
Within seconds they formed a vortex—no, a whirlpool—circling me from all sides.
I froze.
Complete panic.
This was the sort of thing you only saw in anime, cultivation dramas, or Hollywood VFX budgets.
The glowing letters tightened their circle and then—
Slammed straight into my forehead.
"A—AARGH—!!"
It felt like someone took a giant hammer and smashed it right into my skull.
A tidal wave of information poured into me—complex breathing sequences, energy channels, muscle reinforcement diagrams, beast‑like roars, pain‑conditioning cycles— all of it forced into my mind at once.
My vision blurred.
My ears rang.
My hands clawed the bedsheets on instinct.
What the hell is going on?!
The sheer pressure behind the knowledge felt like my brain was about to split open.
A strange sensation—chill but oddly warm—rushed across my mind.
The pain was unbearable, but I couldn't make a sound. My hands clawed at the manual as if trying to tear it apart.
My eyes went wide, my stare blank, and an intense throbbing exploded behind my skull.
"Augh!"
Finally, I could breathe again. I gasped for air, greedily, my chest heaving as if I had been drowning.
And then… clarity.
The flood of chaotic information began to take shape, forming solid, detailed pictures in my mind—postures, energy channels, meridians, and exercises.
Every step of the Ratchasa Vajra Body technique was laid bare, crystal clear.
[Ding! Congratulations! Host has learned Body Tempering Technique! Status has been updated!]
I blinked, stunned.
I had learned the entire manual in seconds.
I collapsed back onto the bed, clutching my head. "It… it hurts!"
I groaned.
Every fiber of my being ached as if some invisible hammer had pounded my brain.
But even as the pain radiated outward, I couldn't stop myself from going through the information again in my mind.
From what the manual explained, this body-tempering technique wasn't just exercise—it was transformation.
A complete reinforcement of flesh, muscle, and skin.
Practicing it could increase strength to monstrous levels and make the body's defense as tough as iron.
Even in this half-dazed, throbbing state, I could feel the possibilities… and they terrified me as much as they excited me.
I didn't know if it was really possible, but the manual described it in exact detail.
This was a 9-stage body-tempering art, inspired by a Rakshasa named Vajraksha—fierce, durable, and naturally born with unparalleled physical resilience.
The technique was designed to make practitioners imitate his physique, forging an unshakable foundation for both qi and body cultivation.
It even claimed to unlock all the body's meridians.
Until now, I didn't know much about meridians, but suddenly I could pinpoint their exact locations in my body.
A strange thrill ran through me.
It feels weird… but exhilarating!
The stages of the technique were outlined clearly in my mind:
Stage 1 — Skin-Hardening Stage
Strengthen the skin until it becomes as tough as animal hide.
Stage 2 — Flesh-Refining Stage
Enhance muscle density and responsiveness, allowing for faster, more powerful movement.
Stage 3 — Tendon-Strengthening Stage
Fortify tendons and ligaments to withstand explosive physical stress.
Stage 4 — Bone-Hardening Stage
Reinforce the skeletal system until bones feel like tempered steel.
Stage 5 — Blood-Purifying Stage
Refine the blood into high-quality essence to improve energy flow.
Stage 6 — Organ-Refining Stage
Strengthen the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys to support massive energy usage.
Stage 7 — Meridian-Forging Stage
Open and widen blocked meridians for high-speed circulation of qi and energy.
Stage 8 — Vajra Body Stage
Achieve unbreakable external defense, making the body nearly impervious to attack.
Stage 9 — Rakshasa Transformation Stage
Unlock the hidden "Physical Potential" within the body, completing the transformation into a Rakshasa-like being.
The sheer ambition of it… it made my heart race.
If even half of this was real, then this technique could transform a person into something almost monstrous—strength beyond normal limits, defenses beyond comprehension, and energy circulation like a finely tuned machine.
I had to try it… I had no choice if I wanted to protect myself in this world.