Chapter 18: Operation: Unhook (R-18)
"So I just have to give him this, right?" Analisa asked, holding the two metal boxes filled with the pipes Zerena and Max had engraved.
Zerena nodded. "Yeah. He’ll transfer the money to you." Then she quickly added, "I would’ve gone myself, but my legs are killing me." The excuse came a little too smoothly, clearly her way of avoiding the errand.
In the corner, Max stood quietly, doing his best to look small and unimportant.
Inside, however, his excitement was practically bouncing off the walls. Once Analisa left, he’d finally get the chance to complete the quest—something involving what he privately considered one of the finest creations in existence.
Women’s breasts.
And not just any woman’s—Zerena’s.
In Max’s opinion, they were the biggest breasts he had ever seen on a woman, even compared to his previous life. Analisa’s were impressive too, sure, but a man could only deal with one pair of giant tits at a time.
"I don’t mind," Analisa said as she headed for the door. "As long as I get some units for myself."
She left the house, the door closing behind her.
Zerena sighed, then looked over at Max and sighed again, even deeper this time.
"I never thought I’d be dealing with something like this at my age..." she muttered. Then she gestured toward the bed beside her. "Come here."
As Max walked over nervously, she asked, "You’re fine with touching mine, right? Or does that system of yours have some specific... breast requirements too?"
Max quickly shook his head and sat down beside her.
Zerena looked at him for a moment. She was still hesitant. Slowly, she reached for the hem of the loose shirt she was wearing. The fabric hid most of her figure, hanging wide enough that none of her curves were clearly visible—but her chest still pushed against it, the sheer size of her breasts forming an obvious tent in the cloth.
As she continued, "I did think about calling a prostitute, but I don’t want rumors starting that a boy living in my house is running around with some whore. And this way... we’re not wasting any money either."
By now, she had lifted her loose shirt just enough to reveal what lay beneath—an old white lace bra that had clearly seen better days. The delicate patterns still held their charm, sure, but the fabric itself? Yeah... it looked like it had been fighting a long, losing battle against her large breasts—and losing with dignity.
Max noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He was many things, but blind wasn’t one of them.
Still, in a rare display of self-preservation—and perhaps a miracle worthy of documentation—he only spared it a glance before quickly dropping his gaze back to his knees, doing his absolute best to look like a nervous, innocent bystander.
"You don’t want that either, right?" she asked.
Max nodded.
Zerena clicked her tongue. "Don’t just bob your head like a horse. Speak."
"I—I don’t want that either," Max blurted out.
"Good," she said.
As she moved, the motion also exposed her smooth armpits, slightly damp from the heat. A faint, warm scent drifted toward him, unmistakably feminine.
His eyes flicked up for a split second—purely by accident, obviously—and caught the sight of her chest held together by that same overworked lace bra, the poor thing looking like it was operating under extreme conditions with no backup support in sight.
Max quickly forced his gaze back down toward his knees, trying to keep up the nervous act—though it was getting harder, in more ways than one.
Once she was done pulling the shirt off, a few strands of her black-and-grey hair slipped loose and fell around her shoulders.
Max quickly returned his gaze to his knees, trying to maintain his frightened, obedient act.
"Now," she said, adjusting herself slightly, "how long do you need to touch them for that quest to be completed?"
"Half an hour..." Max blurted out.
He wanted to say longer—obviously—but also valued his continued existence. Ask for too much, and suddenly people start asking questions. Dangerous questions. The kind that end plans before they even begin.
And It was just enough time, to rack up a bit more then hundred Forbidden Points.
Zerena nodded. She reached behind her back, trying to undo the hook of her bra, but the angle was awkward. She was a tall, broad woman—taller than Max himself—and her hands just couldn’t quite reach properly.
"Anna will be gone for an hour," she said. "That’s more than enough time."
She reached behind her back, fingers fumbling slightly as she tried to undo the hook of her bra. The angle wasn’t doing her any favors. Tall, broad-shouldered, and built like someone who didn’t believe in the concept of "easy access," her hands just couldn’t quite reach properly.
After a brief, silent struggle with physics—and perhaps fate itself—she turned around instead.
And just like that, Max was greeted with the full view of her bare back.
The bra was stretched tight, pulled taut under pressure, the fabric digging slightly into her skin like it had long since accepted its role as the last line of defense. A losing battle, but a committed one.
Max stared for exactly half a second.
Which, for him, was practically monk-level restraint.
Then she glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"Can you unhook it for me?"
Max’s lips curled the moment her back turned—clean, effortless, like he’d just passed the hardest part of a boss fight.
’Step one: access granted.’
His hands moved in, steady—no trembling, no hesitation. On the outside, anyway. Internally?
’...Alright, how the hell does this thing work?’
Because yeah—turns out, unlocking ultimate power didn’t automatically come with a "Beginner’s Guide to Bras."
As he hadd never opened a bra before. Not in this life, and definitely not in the previous one either.
Tragic.
He fumbled once. Then again.
’Seriously? This is harder than runes...’
For a brief, humiliating moment, Max considered the possibility that this—this tiny, cursed hook—might be his greatest enemy so far.
But then—
click.
It gave way.
Victory.
Subtle. Quiet. Absolute.
After a bit of fumbling, the hook finally slipped free with a soft snap. The moment it did, he could feel the weight of her breasts shift from behind as the tight fabric loosened and they sagged naturally.
Max’s patience was hanging by a thread at this point.
Alright... any second now...
Zerena, meanwhile, moved like she had all the time in the world.
Calm. Unbothered.
She slipped the straps off her shoulders and pulled the bra away in one smooth motion, like she was removing something mildly inconvenient rather than... well, that.
No reaction. No hesitation. Not even a hint of embarrassment.
If anything, she looked bored.
Max watched, eyes locked, trying very hard to look like he wasn’t watching too hard.
This was not how he imagined this scene going.
There was supposed to be tension. Maybe some hesitation. At the very least—a reaction.
Instead, he got... nothing.
Just Zerena, completely unfazed, sitting there like this was another item on her daily checklist.
"Now go on, sit there," she said, pointing toward the backrest like she was assigning homework.
’Damn it... just let me touch them already...’ though the command annoyed him slightly.
But he did as told and went to sit on the bed. With her back still turned to him, he couldn’t see her breasts fully yet. Still, the view wasn’t exactly disappointing.
Her back was broad and warm-looking, the curves of her waist visible as the skin folded slightly when she shifted. Max would have been more than happy just holding her like that, but now that the bra was gone he found it impossible to keep his eyes away from the glimpse of side-boob visible from the angle.
Before anything else happened, Zerena spoke again.
"Before we really start, is there anything else about this pervert quest you want to tell me?"
Max had to think for a moment before answering.
"Um... if I do it for the full half hour, it should give enough mana to engrave maybe three or four dozen more pipes," he said.
That made her turn and look back at him with clear disappointment. A book had appeared in her hand at some point, though Max didn’t even notice—his eyes were too busy trying not to stare directly at her chest after getting a very good look at it.
He quickly forced his gaze away again.
"Only a few dozen?" she asked.
Max nodded and hurried to explain. "The reward depends on the duration... and on what I actually do. It can increase if I keep touching them longer. But I can only complete this quest once a day."
He hesitated, face heating up again as he forced the words out.
"And the other quests are a bit... worse than this."
Zerena’s head snapped toward him.
"Worse?" she repeated, disbelief flashing across her face before it twisted into something closer to disgust. She shook her head like she could physically eject the idea from her mind.
"Don’t," she cut in quickly, raising a hand. "I don’t need the details."
’Coward,’ Max noted internally. You asked.
She shifted on the bed with a small sigh, like she was mentally filing this entire situation under regrettable decisions.
"Just spread your legs a little. Make space."
Max blinked once—but obeyed instantly.
Now we’re talking.
She moved without hesitation, sliding back until her back pressed against his chest, settling in like this was just another practical arrangement.
No tension. No awkwardness.
Just efficiency.
"For today," she said flatly, "just do the touching part. Anna will be back soon."
A brief pause.
"We’ll deal with the rest of those... quests tomorrow."
