Magic Store 35


“Could it be because you drank a lot?”

“Probably. Anyway, I was left all alone, people started talking to me here and there… so I ran away… and then….”

Mid-sentence, she met my eyes, and her face, which had been full of resentment, started to turn as red as a beetroot.

I can understand this.

In summary, she was saying, “I just sat there at the club,” which is embarrassing enough….

…Of course, that's if the listener has any experience with clubs.

If it were me, I wouldn't have even been able to sit.

I would have been banging on locked doors in the bathroom or a motel, crying and begging, “Seniors, I know you’re busy, but please let me go home!”

But seriously, what kind of crime did this succubus commit to be dragged around by her senior colleagues on the weekend?

When I asked, she started with my story.

“Well, the boss said that, to understand love, you need to experience dating first.”

“He did say that.”

“So, I tried to date, but I had no idea how to start….”

I believe there’s a cause and effect for everything, and dating is no exception.

There’s a beginning, development, crisis, climax, and conclusion.

And it seemed like this succubus was stuck right at the beginning.

After days of pondering following our short counseling session, she decided to ask her senior colleagues because she couldn’t figure it out on her own….

“They told me to keep my weekend schedule open. So, I did, and when I followed them in the evening… this happened….”

She even shuddered as she spoke.

The experience must have been quite traumatic for her.

“Did you get any solid advice, apart from being dragged to the club?”

“They told me to go to a motel. They said that’s where love would naturally develop.”

“Wow.”

If dating is a battlefield, those senior colleagues must have the firepower of a Gundam, while this succubus was more like a Zaku.

“But I just couldn't bring myself to do that….”

If someone told me to do it, I couldn't either.

I answered with empathy.

“I think I mentioned this before, but if you don't want to do it, then don't. Forced love isn't love; it's torture.”

“Right…?”

She responded shyly but happily, as if pleased that someone understood her.

Talking more about the club seemed to only bring up painful memories, so I changed the subject.

“Is there really nothing else they told you?”

“Well… Ah, one of the seniors did suggest trying this.”

She took out her smartphone, fiddled with it for a moment, and then showed me the screen.

It displayed a logo of a little winged figure shooting an arrow.

After a moment, the loading bar filled up, and the screen switched.

At first, I wasn’t sure what it was, but as I kept looking, something clicked.

“Is this a dating app?”

“Yes. What do you think?”

Not much.

It's one of those apps where you upload your photo and address, get rated, and then get matched with someone with a similar rating.

There are a few similar apps in my world, so I'm well aware of them.

I even tried to join one once, after losing a drinking game with some friends.

Of course, I failed.

They wouldn’t even let me sign up because my appearance rating was 2.1.

If this were a college GPA, I'd seriously consider retaking the course, but how do you retake a course in this context?

Should I just go to the old man at the arcade and ask him to swap out my face?

For these reasons, I have a negative view of dating apps.

However, dismissing it outright was also tricky.

I couldn’t think of anything else to say about dating if I excluded this app.

Also, this succubus's face was about 30,000 light-years away from being ugly....

"My opinion isn’t great, but why not give it a shot? You’ve got nothing to lose."

"Okay, I’ll try. First, I need a photo…."

As she spoke, the succubus handed her smartphone to me again.

"Sir, could you help me with this?"

"Wouldn't it be better to just take a selfie? That way, you'd look better in the photo."

"I’m not very good at taking selfies…."

I can’t take selfies at all.

I don’t think I've had my picture taken except for ID photos.

But this succubus looks good no matter how the picture is taken....

I don't know.

I’ll just take the photo naturally.

After fiddling with the smartphone, I aimed the camera, and the succubus on the screen had a tense expression.

"Why are you so nervous? It's not like you're taking a photo for a job interview."

"Well, I didn’t put on much makeup today… Do I look okay?"

When she asked if she looked okay, I responded naturally.

"You look pretty."

"Yeah, pretty... what?"

I decided to omit a few qualifiers.

This succubus had thrown up and had some pancake batter on her chin, and she came to me drunk with her eyes glazed over, but even then, her looks didn’t suffer.

This is an objective observation.

And this time, she looks even better than those two times combined.

I told her again.

"I said you look pretty. Objectively. So don’t be nervous and just smile."

"...Oh, you’re just joking…."

"I don’t joke about looks. Pose and say cheese."

"...Really?"

"No, really, I said smile!"

"Chee, cheese."

As I adjusted the camera focus and waited, the succubus, looking shy, finally struck an awkward pose and faced the camera with a tense expression.

Her face was flushed, probably because she wasn't used to compliments, but the app developer probably didn’t factor that into the rating.

Click.

When I checked the photo, it looked like a formal ID photo, but it turned out pretty well.

If she used it as her phone background, people might tease her saying, "Is that an anime profile pic?"

When I handed it back to her, the succubus asked me,

"Um, Sir."

"Yes?"

"Do you really think I'm, well... pretty?"

She looked pretty to my human eyes, but I couldn’t be sure if she was considered objectively pretty in the succubus society, where this might be the average look.

"I told you, I don’t lie about looks."

"Right... I'll trust you."

"But don't just take my word for it. Once you see the results, you'll get a better idea."

Despite my reassurances, she still looked uncertain.

She glanced at me, then slowly operated her smartphone.

So, what’s the result?

4.9 out of 5.

"Um... is this like a karaoke score?"

"Karaoke score or not, why are you suddenly being modest?"

Turns out, one of the regulars at the convenience store is a top-tier beauty.

Wow.

On the other hand, I wasn't feeling too great.

After all, I had once received a 2.1 on a similar app.

This author is really putting me through the wringer, not letting me catch a break.

Moreover, I could tell this succubus lacked confidence in her appearance.

Maybe it’s because she hasn’t had any dating experience.

Still, this wasn't a huge problem.

Once she started dating, it would solve itself.

If her partner kept telling her she was pretty, she’d gain confidence whether she liked it or not.

"Modest, huh..."

"Talking about it more will just make me more depressed. Let's just continue. What's next?"

"Um... first, it says to choose tags."

As we looked at the screen she showed me, I saw dozens of tags listed.

Being an otherworldly app, the tags were different from what I expected.

They included things like #Horns, #Demon-like Appearance, #Over2mTall… 2 meters?

Who’s looking for a basketball team prospect here?

"Is this a normal app?"

"My senior said it was, but honestly, I’m not sure either."

"...Then try pressing this. It looks like an auto-search button."

There was something next to the tag search button.

The succubus nodded and pressed the button, and a picture popped up. I was taken aback.

"Oh, it's up. Sir, what do you think of this incubus?"

"......"

"Sir?"

"Uh…"

An incubus?

This blond, tanned punk is an incubus?

This is what he looked like: slanted eyes, obviously dyed blond hair that was so shiny it looked like he poured lubricant all over his bronze skin.

Was he a VIP at a massage parlor or something?

Moreover, he had sharp protruding teeth that made him look like an invasive species.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, so I kept staring at the photo, trying to wrap my head around it.

The selfie seemed to have been taken impulsively at the beach.

One of his arms was bent, partially obscured, as if he had taken the photo while locking arms with someone else.

"Sir?”

"This, uh, incubus... Do you think he will be a good match, customer?"

"Yes."

Honestly, if I knew someone dating a guy who looked like this, I’d break their legs to stop them.

"Uh... why?"

That’s what the internet says, but that’s probably not an appropriate response.

I thought long and hard before finally coming up with a plausible answer.

"Customer, you see, I have a bit of knowledge in physiognomy."

"Wow, really?"

"A little. And judging by physiognomy, this blond... incubus is not a match for you. His features are a light-year away from true love."

But the succubus still seemed unsure.

"Still, judging someone just by their appearance seems a bit..."

By that logic, I’m not a 2.1-point human either.

But since it wasn't entirely wrong ethically, I told her to scroll down a bit more.

Maybe this guy was actually a hopeless romantic, despite his dyed blond hair and tan...

As the succubus scrolled down a bit, his name appeared.

[En Tiar]

"How can someone's name be..."

"Person?"

"No, not a person, but... damn it, just listen to me. I also know a bit about reading names, and from that perspective, this guy is a big no. I’m not kidding."

"Really? I thought the name was cool."

"This name?"

"Yes. In ancient language, it means 'pure love.' I majored in ancient languages as my second foreign language."

Ancient language or gibberish, it doesn't matter.

I'm telling you, this guy is a no-go.

Feeling frustrated, I glanced at the screen again.

She had scrolled down further to reveal his introduction.

[Woohoo~~!! Didn't know an app like this existed ww Ore-sama is super lucky★ No matter the species, I'll make you all melt♡ Just trust me ww]

I grabbed the smartphone, scrolled through it, and handed it back to her.

"Oh, I wasn't done reading yet. What did it say in the introduction?"

"It said his type is anyone who can vouch for him."



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