They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 146: Pervert

[STATUS]

Name: Jin Raith

Age: 17

Class: Debugger

Level: 22

EXP: 2,340/5,400

Rank: C

MC (Mana Capacity): 261/450

HP: 840/840

MP: 250/250

Stats:

STR: 30

VIT: 31

AGI: 34

INT: 77

WIS: 45

LUK: 19

Allocation Points: 40

Skills: Poison Resistance (69%), Social Engineering, Alchemy (Basic), Debug Vision, Iron Will (Passive), Light Orb, Mana Reservoir (Passive), Combat Analysis (Passive)

Combat: Unorthodox Fang (Proficiency: 89%)

I looked at my updated stats and nodded slowly.

Not bad. Level 22 and rank C now.

The quest had given me quite the rewards.

I closed the status window with a thought and sighed, leaning back against the pillows.

The village was alive. I was injured but recovering.

Might as well take the rest while I can get it.

I closed my eyes, feeling the exhaustion trying to pull me back under—

The door slammed open with a bang that made me jerk upright.

"Wake up, you bastard!"

I turned my head to see Scarlet standing in the doorway, arms crossed, hood pulled up to hide her fox ears, glaring at me with those green eyes that promised violence.

I yawned, covering my mouth.

"Right. She’s here too. I forgot."

Her growl was distinctly animalistic.

She stepped forward into the room, closing the door behind her with more force than necessary.

I turned to face her properly.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She paused mid-step, blinking like I’d just spoken in a foreign language.

"What did you say?"

I tilted my head slightly, confused by her confusion.

"I asked how you’re feeling. After the fight. You took hits too."

Scarlet stood there for a moment, just staring at me, her expression cycling through several emotions too quickly to track.

Then she clicked her tongue and huffed, looking away.

"I’m fine," she muttered. "Healed up already. Foxkin regenerate faster than humans."

"That’s good."

She didn’t respond, just stood there with her arms crossed, clearly working up to something.

Then she crossed the remaining distance between us in three quick steps, reached up, and pulled down the collar of her tunic to expose the side of her neck.

The slave mark was there, glowing faintly with that sickly purple light I remembered from when I’d first suppressed it.

Active again. Burning into her skin.

"You bastard," she hissed, her voice low and dangerous. "You said you removed it. Why is it back now?"

I blinked, processing that.

"I didn’t say I removed it," I corrected carefully. "I said I suppressed it. There’s a difference."

"Same thing!" She pulled her collar back up, her hands clenched into fists. "It’s here—"

I was already thinking, my mind racing through possibilities.

The suppression I’d applied had been a debug modification, changing the mark’s active state to dormant, essentially telling it to stop broadcasting and stop burning.

But modifications like that required maintenance.

Is this because I was unconscious for three days? Did the edit wear off automatically?

That would make sense, maybe.

My debug abilities were tied to my active perception and mana. If I was knocked out, truly unconscious rather than just sleeping, the system might have automatically released any ongoing modifications to conserve resources.

Or to prevent catastrophic failures if I died.

"It might have worn off."

"Useless."

I narrowed my eyes. "I nearly died, you know."

"So?" She just crossed her arms again, her expression completely unsympathetic.

"And now you’re saying," she said slowly, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "is that the only thing keeping me from being tracked down and dragged back is you staying awake?"

"Not... exactly." I held up a hand before she could explode. "It’ll take a few minutes to fix it properly this time..."

I pulled up my debug vision, focusing on the mark visible beneath her collar.

The overlay snapped into place, and I blinked in surprise.

The information was different now. More detailed and complex.

So reaching Rank C unlocked more functionality in my debug vision.

I could see the mark’s structure in far more detail now, every layer, every connection point, the way it had woven itself into Scarlet’s nervous system like parasitic roots.

And I could see options I couldn’t before.

I frowned, studying the structure more carefully.

A permanent removal would require either breaking the mark entirely, which the system helpfully informed me had an 89% chance of killing her, given how deeply it was integrated into her skin and nervous system, or finding whoever held the master crystal and destroying that.

Neither option was currently available.

"But I can suppress it again," I said carefully, pulling my attention back to the present. "And I can make the suppression more... durable. Tie it to your own mana too. It won’t be permanent, but it should last much longer this time."

Her eyes narrowed. "Should?"

"Will," I corrected. "It will last. As long as you don’t use too much mana all at once, the suppression will hold. But remember, my mana will still be the main source. Yours just reinforces it."

Scarlet studied me for a long moment.

Then she grunted and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Heavily.

The mattress dipped under her weight, jostling my injuries. Pain shot through my ribs sharp enough to make me wince and gasp.

"Fine. Do it." She turned to look at me directly. "But if it fails again and I get dragged back to that bastard’s estate, I will absolutely kill you before they take me."

She paused, then added with a dismissive snort: "And stop crying like a baby over some scratches."

Scratches?!

I felt a vein bulge at my temple. I have broken ribs, dislocated shoulder that’s only partially healed, and bruising covering half my torso, you ungrateful—

I took a deep breath, immediately regretted it as my ribs protested, and forced myself to calm down.

She’s traumatized. Lashing out is how she copes. Don’t take it personally.

Even though she’s being a complete—

Calm. Stay calm.

I activated my debug vision fully, focusing on the slave mark and examining its structure in detail this time.

The modification would be more complex than before. Instead of just suppressing the mark directly, I’d need to create a feedback loop, tie the suppression to both my mana and hers, make it semi-autonomous so it wouldn’t collapse the moment I fell or got injured.

It would drain her slightly, reduce her maximum mana by maybe 10-15%, but it would hold without requiring my constant conscious attention.

"This might feel weird," I warned. "Don’t move."

I reached out with my mana, carefully constructing the modification according to the new template my upgraded debug vision provided.

The mana drained from me in a rush, leaving me lightheaded and nauseous. But I held the modification steady, watching as it wove itself into place, threads of my mana wrapping around the mark’s structure, then connecting to Scarlet’s own mana channels to create a self-sustaining loop.

The glow faded gradually, like a dying ember, until the mark looked like nothing more than a faint scar.

Scarlet’s hand flew to her neck.

"It’s gone," she breathed.

"That’s the suppression, it’ll hold. Just don’t burn through all your mana in a single fight, or the feedback loop might collapse."

She touched her neck gently, testing, then looked at me with an unreadable expression.

Then she snorted and stood up.

"Get your ass out of bed," she said flatly. "The village chief wants to meet you. Soon as you’re able to walk without falling over."

Before I could respond, her features began to shift.

I watched, fascinated despite my exhaustion, as her fox ears slowly retracted into her skull and human ears took their place.

Her tail seemed to shimmer and fade, disappearing completely. Even her facial features shifted subtly, the slightly pointed canines dulling, the sharpness of her cheekbones softening just a touch.

Within seconds, she looked completely human. Brown hair, amber eyes.

So she actually learned the glamour skill herself.

My debug vision confirmed it:

[Scarlet - Glamour: Active]

[Skill Level: Beginner]

[Duration: 6 hours]

[Stability: 82%]

I stared at her transformation, genuinely impressed.

My eyes tracked down slightly, noting how the glamour had also adjusted her clothing to fit her "human" form better, the way the fabric now draped—

Scarlet’s face turned bright red.

"PERVERT!"

Something hard and wooden hit me in the face, looked like the water cup from the bedside table, making me flinch back against the pillows.

"I wasn’t—"

"Stop staring at my chest, you perverted noble bastard!"

"I was looking at the effect on your—"

But she was already storming toward the door, her face still flushed, her hands clenched into fists.

She yanked the door open, paused just long enough to shoot me one final glare, and snapped.

"Five minutes. Get dressed and meet me outside. Don’t keep the chief waiting."

Then she was gone, the door slamming shut hard enough to rattle in its frame.

I sat there, blinking, touching my face where the cup had hit.

What just happened?

I’d been analyzing the glamour’s effect on her overall appearance, including how it modified clothing and proportions to maintain the illusion.

I sighed and carefully swung my legs out of bed, testing my weight.

Then spotted my cleaned clothes folded on the chair and started getting dressed.