Massage Parlor for Unsatisfied Wives in Another World-Chapter 37: First Step

"-Your humble servant, Mirrǒr, bids you farewell!"

With that last statement, that thing simply disappeared, and the entire monochromatic environment regained color and movement.

This was truly unexpected, but even though it didn’t answer my question, I feel like I already have more pieces to this puzzle.

Whether it was lying or not, I was able to deduce many things.

"Wow, honey, that was intense. I was worried about you when you started cursing at him, but you showed him his place! Well, if he did something to you, I would attack him!"

"...Love, if something like that happens, don’t do it. With beings like him, I don’t think physical methods are useful."

"We won’t know until we try. If he bleeds, he can die!, and I’ll find out."

"I really hope we don’t have to encounter more beings like that, although I don’t think that’s really the case... hmm Mirror, I’ll remember that."

Well, now that I have a clearer idea of the path ahead, it’s time to move on and refocus on the present.

"System, are you there?"

[That is correct, user.]

"Can you tell me or explain what just happened?"

[Affirmative. The user asked about the reward distribution for the anomalous event.]

"And what do you have to say about what happened next?"

[The user asked if I was present.]

"Hmm... so we’re working on the premise that what just happened didn’t happen to you. Fine, whatever. Exchange this card for the morphogenesis skill in the unique items catalog."

At that moment, I materialized one of the cards. It was a joker with a rainbow chrome finish. It bothers me a little that the theme of the rewards was cards, and even more so this one in particular.

[Request executed. Exchange completed.]

"...haah~"

At that moment, the card disappeared and, in its place, a book began to materialize in my hand.

I couldn’t help but sigh at the silliness of it all; whoever was responsible for all this really seemed to be messing with us.

"Or it’s like in video games. It’s a skill book, honey. I can use it."

"...No. System, how do I use it?"

"Why, honey!? I want a shape-shifting skill too!"

I didn’t have to think too hard to know that giving Iris this skill was definitely a bad idea.

In fact, I am very grateful that she can never get it, since there is only one of each unique item in the catalog.

[The user is required to establish sustained contact with the catalyst and articulate a conscious, structurally defined intention toward internalizing the skill. The convergence of intention and physical support will activate the transfer protocol.]

"Well, same as before: clear intentions....got it. Ah!... what is this...? Hmm, convenient. It comes with an explanation..."

Quickly, and before Iris could get stubborn and think of taking it away from me, I followed the system’s instructions and learned the skill.

The book began to disperse into particles and went straight to my eyes, leaving me briefly bewildered; but it passed quickly and I understood.

Not only did I gain the skill, but also a convenient guide on how to use it, at least at a basic level.

This was more convenient than the skills we had from the beginning.

Once I processed and understood most of it, I approached the mirror and concentrated. I saw my reflection change slightly: my face slowly began to change.

The bridge of my nose and jaw receded, and I even felt my teeth rearrange themselves a little, all without pain, just a slight tingling sensation.

Before I knew it, my face was a little different. I tried to change it further: I wanted to grow a mustache, and sure enough, a large mustache grew.

Then I wanted to change its color to a blonder shade, and that change occurred; my existing hair also changed.

As the name suggests, this ability gives me advanced morphological control. I can move muscles, bones, and even—I assume this is done with mana—create certain things like body hair.

Hypothetically, I can even create things at the level of extra limbs, such as arms, if I have enough mana.

It works mostly based on my will, but I have to be careful, because manipulating my body can be very bad if I don’t understand it.

I mean, I can even create limbs, but if they’re not connected to anything, they’re just useless limbs. If I want to change the shape of my skull carelessly, it could affect my brain and have repercussions.

If I wanted to change the shape of my body to a more robust one, modifying my ribs could hurt my heart and lungs, Or, if I wanted to reduce my size, I would have to do it carefully so that all my organs would function properly.

The skill has something like a self-correction to protect me, but it is minimal and if I make extreme modifications, it will not be able to help me.

It’s a skill that requires a certain degree of understanding of the body and maintaining a reasonable balance.

Fortunately, the massage techniques that the system implemented in me had a lot of bodily knowledge, and at least changing my appearance shouldn’t be a problem.

Well, once I was done with that, I turned to Iris. Now it was time to merge and do the next thing, but...

"Love... 눈_눈"

"Y-yes, what is it, honey? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I just saw you holding something that disappeared into particles, which entered your eyes."

"You’re not wrong, honey. That’s exactly what just happened. Oh! That’s how it works. How interesting."

"love, you used the card, didn’t you?"

"Yes, honey."

It was just a moment. I understand that the reward is genuinely hers and all that, and it’s not unusual for her to do whatever she wants, but we had a...

Oh, now that I think about it, it’s not necessary anymore...

"Hmm, well, whatever. My mother-in-law isn’t here, so you can do whatever you want with what’s yours. We don’t have to stick to that rule."

Due to an incident involving my mother-in-law, we came to the conclusion that we would not give Iris any kind of power, including financial power.

That’s why I had complete control over our finances and other things, so normally, if she wanted something, she would ask me for it, but that was only in our previous life.

Continuing with that, which I felt obliged to do, was not necessary.

"Hii! What have I done!? Honey, we can’t do that, we have to keep that rule. If my mother finds out we’re not doing it, she’ll take me with her. Hii! And I’ve already done it twice, honey. Promise you won’t tell her anything! I swear I won’t do it again."

"Really? Where do you get that confidence that my mother-in-law will come...?"

"That’s obvious, honey. I don’t know why you don’t understand. In any case, it will be a secret, right?"

"Well, in any case, if you want to continue it in case she really comes, let’s do it. So, what was it? It was something about the unique items, right?"

"Of course. I exchanged it for the unique storage skill. Haha! Obviously, we have to have one. This world is full of treasures, and we have to keep them all. We could even break into a bank, steal everything, and no one would notice."

"Why are you going in a criminal direction...? Well, putting that aside, I think it will be very useful."

Honestly, I wanted to save this card for a future situation and not rely on luck, but if she’s happy, that’s fine.

I probably would have agreed even if she had asked me.

"Of course it will be. Okay, honey, make sure it stays between us. A secret between a married couple of a hundred years."

"￣へ￣... yes."

She really wants to make sure it’s a secret, even though I think it’s meaningless.

Well, I suppose she did it on impulse, because since we got here I feel like she’s two or three times more excited than usual.

It’s not surprising, considering there are so many stimulating things everywhere.

"Well, honey, it’s time to Fusión, right?"

"That’s right, but rem—"

"Fusión!"

..

"Ugh!, why is she always so hasty...? Well, whatever, those are minor details. Oh, I’m Iris now? How curious... Now then, how did you use this thing?"

Alright! Now the interesting part begins. It was finally time to try out that doppelganger mirror.

I took it out and examined it. It was the size of a hand mirror, and it was the heart of this honorable mission.

As far as I knew, I had to put mana into it, so I started doing that.

I wondered if I was doing it right, but I immediately felt the mana coming out of my fingertips being sucked into the mirror, so I assumed I was doing it right, and I did it for a while until...

"Ugh... hey, system, how much does this need?"

I put a lot of mana into it. There was no way to measure it, but I instinctively felt that I only had about thirty percent of my mana left, and if I continued like this, I wouldn’t be able to maintain the fusion.

The mirror had undergone some changes; it had become twice as large, but I didn’t know if it was enough to use it yet.

[Behind the artifact is a progressive charge meter that regulates its operation; activation remains blocked until the required value is completed.]

"Huh?"

At that moment, I turned the mirror and saw a gem. It was mostly transparent, but from its base it had a certain degree of purple coloring.

"System, don’t tell me that to make this work we have to make the whole gem turn purple."

[That’s correct. As you can see, it is twenty percent full; only eighty percent remains.]

"Hey, what’s with this sudden obstacle? I don’t recover mana that quickly; it will take me at least two days of recovery and refilling to be able to fill it. Hey, don’t you have a solution for this?"

[The user can exchange Myrr to replenish their lost mana while on the premises.]

"Oh! Well, you have something so convenient. How much does it cost?"

[Calculating. User rank, mana value, remaining amount... it would be 87 Myrr.]

"Ugh... it’s a little expensive. Let’s see, I have enough Myrr from the rewards. Well, if that’s all it takes, I’ll have to do it about four or five times, so I have plenty. Okay, let’s get started."

..

.

"Ufff~ okay, it’s finally full. Now what?"

[Establish direct physical contact with the reflective surface and formulate an unambiguous cognitive intention aimed at manifesting a doppelgänger.]

I stood in front of the mirror, which was now a huge full-length mirror, and touched my reflection.

"Okay, I see how everything works around here. Let’s see a doppelganger of me..."

I concentrated my will and wanted a doppelganger to be created.

"Ah!"

I was a little surprised, as I suddenly felt that I was not touching a smooth surface, but skin, and the next moment I felt something grab my hand.

I reflexively pulled back, but at the same time I pulled what held my hand.

When I understood what had happened, there she was, my double.

It wasn’t even a mirror image, but an identical copy, which was very convenient.

Finally, I also realized that the mirror had disappeared. For a moment, I thought it was a single-use item, but I saw that there was something in my hand that the doppelganger had grabbed—it was a small mirror.

Now this one was as small as a fingernail. It was really curious.

My attention returned to the doppelganger, and it didn’t seem to have any emotion or react in any way, other than initially taking my hand.

"Well, I guess everything here works with a clear intention, so I want to..."

I concentrated and wanted to control that doppelganger, projecting my clear intention to do so, and the next moment I felt a strange connection formed by the small mirror in my hand and—

"Ah! Oh! It worked."

In an instant, my perspective changed, and now I saw the room from a new angle.

In front of me was, well, still me, but now that was the original and I was the doppelganger.

The problem was that now my original was expressionless.

It was time to test whether what I had hypothesized would work.

"Okay, now I understand more. Let’s see, parallel thought attached. Oh, first I go back and then I create it and..."

I returned to my body and created the parallel thought. At the same time, I made that thought recreate what I had just done.

"It worked!" (x2)

And that’s when I realized that the first step of my grand plan had worked.