The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 63
That evening, Han Eol arrived at the meeting place first and called Rihanna.
“Where are you? Sushi Zen? Really? Isn’t that place impossible to book?”
Rihanna’s voice rang out from the other end of the phone, bright with excitement.
She hadn’t been so animated before, but the moment he said Sushi Zen, her whole demeanor seemed to shift.
“I was fortunate enough to get help with the reservation from someone. I’m already inside Sushi Zen, so take your time coming over.”
At his words, Rihanna laughed like a donkey braying.
“Aha-ha. Okay. I’m heading right over!”
A short while later, Rihanna arrived at the private room in Sushi Zen.
The room overlooked the Gangnam Station Area, with L-shaped dodging seating arranged throughout, accommodating a maximum of six people.
But today, Ju Yeon-hui had reserved the entire room exclusively, so no other guests were being seated.
In other words, this space existed for Han Eol and Rihanna alone.
As soon as Rihanna arrived, the meal began.
First, the auxiliary chef presented them both with a warm steamed hand towel. Then came a bowl of chawanmushi, Japanese-style egg custard.
‘Oh. This looks delicious.’
Han Eol took a spoonful and found the flavor melting on his tongue like silk, exquisitely delicate. Yet the finely sliced shrimp and abalone nestled within the custard retained their springy, vibrant texture.
Next came warm braised octopus leg and steamed abalone in succession.
The abalone came with crab roe sauce that included a handful of rice.
Following the chef’s instruction, Han Eol gently loosened the grains of rice with his chopsticks and mixed them into the crab roe sauce to eat.
Next came ankimo—monkfish liver—served alongside foie gras, the French ingredient, allowing direct comparison of the two delicacies.
“Mmmm.”
Rihanna let out a fairly audible sound of satisfaction through her nose.
Han Eol had noticed it before: Rihanna was mixed blood with a healthy, glamorous figure, and she wore her emotions openly—that was her defining trait.
Even now, when food pleased her palate, she expressed her delight generously through such nasal sounds.
The dishes she most enthusiastically praised were the ankimo and foie gras, uni wrapped in crispy seaweed with that creamy quality, and geoduck clams, among others.
By contrast, when she ate mackerel sushi or squid sushi, no sound escaped her nose at all.
Of course, what Rihanna most appreciated wasn’t the food, but the refreshing beer.
The chef at Sushi Zen had prepared premium sake for the distinguished guests booking under Ju Yeon-hui’s name, but Rihanna preferred beer to that.
Han Eol, meanwhile, didn’t care for alcohol and merely wet his lips.
In fact, Han Eol’s true age was only sixteen, still below the legal drinking age.
In any case, while the two chefs smoked and grilled fish over straw, Rihanna drained a bowl of clam broth and shifted to the main topic.
“Let me show you something.”
Inside the box Rihanna handed over was a black leather belt.
Embedded in the center of the belt was a triangular Mana Stone of the Giret Tribe, casting an eerie light.
The inner surface of the belt bore intricate symbols engraved with precision—at a glance, it was clear the craftsmanship had demanded considerable effort.
Rihanna beamed with pride.
“Don’t let looks fool you—this isn’t just ordinary leather. It’s made from the hide of a Demon Beast called Aktos, coated with webbing from a Giant Spider. Wow. I must be out of my mind. Spending such expensive materials to create this thing.”
Rihanna mimed tearing out her own hair.
Han Eol asked, “Aktos and Giant Spider?”
He knew Aktos well enough.
On Highland Continent 5, Han Eol had hunted an Aktos—a four-armed Demon Beast—and turned it over to Wat Umon in Chiang Mai.
However, the hide used in Rihanna’s belt was distinctly inferior in quality to the Aktos Han Eol had caught.
‘This is probably Aktos hide from the Ninth or Eighth Continent,’ he thought.
Even so, this was no small feat.
Giant Spider webbing in particular was a very rare material.
‘She’s coated the entire belt with that scarce material. That’s impressive.’
Han Eol marveled at Rihanna’s generous spending.
Chapter 7
In any case, thanks to Rihanna sparing no expense on materials, Rihanna’s Black Belt had become something that wouldn’t burn in fire, wouldn’t conduct electricity, wouldn’t freeze, and could absorb most physical impacts outright.
However, these properties applied only to the belt itself and didn’t extend protection to the wearer.
Rihanna, her eyes slightly glazed from alcohol, rambled on with her explanation.
“I didn’t use Giant Spider webbing for nothing. The truth is, that webbing has the best Mana transmission efficiency.”
Rihanna’s tongue was already beginning to slur.
But that wasn’t the issue for Han Eol.
“Wow.”
At his admiration, Rihanna huffed indignantly and chugged her beer.
“Tch. The quality of the Mana Stone you commissioned from me had to be exceptionally good. I tried experimenting with other materials, but nothing satisfied me. So in the end, I had no choice but to stomach massive losses and dump Giant Spider webbing all over it. Khe-hehe-heng.”
Rihanna started making a self-deprecating laugh but suddenly burst into tears. Thinking about squandering such expensive materials, she felt wronged.
Or perhaps it was simply the effect of guzzling so much beer.

The chefs who had been smoking fish for some time looked up in surprise, turning toward Rihanna.
“Oh my, whatever is the matter with her?”
Han Eol, flustered, fumbled about before handing Rihanna a napkin.
She accepted it, wiped her nose with a sniff, and tilted her beer glass again.
Just as Rihanna had been sinking into melancholy, the grilled fish arrived, and her mood brightened at once.
“Wow, this is incredibly delicious. Perfect with beer. Hehe.”
Rihanna exhaled a satisfied breath through her nose, exhilarated.
Meanwhile, Han Eol tried on the black belt she had crafted with such care, fastening it around his waist.
At that, Rihanna’s expression grew slightly awkward as she rummaged through her bag before extending a neatly folded piece of paper to Han Eol.
“What is this?”
“What else would it be? The belt’s options.”
Rihanna tossed the words out curtly.
Yet despite her terse manner, something seemed to bother her—her expression gave it away.
‘What is it?’
Han Eol quickly unfolded the paper.
The contents written on it were as follows:
* Item Name: Rihanna’s Black Belt
* Item Grade: S−

1. Twelve Slot Spaces
― Each slot provides one cubic meter of storage space
― The weight of items stored in slots is negated
― Living creatures cannot be stored
2. Infrared Spectrum Transparency
― Night concealment function

Vampiric Effect
― Within a radius of five meters, absorbs enemy blood scattered in the area and provides the wearer with healing equivalent to a B+ grade restoration potion
― [Warning] Special option activates only when sufficient Mana is injected into the belt’s Mana Stone
‘Wait, one cubic meter—that’s a box with each dimension being one meter? And there are twelve of them?’
The belt Rihanna had crafted was practically no different from an Interdimensional Space item.
Moreover, it possessed a night concealment function.
Of course, thanks to the great blessing bestowed by the Dragon Race’s Twelve Star Seats, Han Eol had already absorbed Pyros’s Ring into his left hand, granting him the ability to slip into Stealth mode whenever he wished—so the night concealment was hardly a useful option for him.
But the slot option was truly invaluable.
‘Items in the slots don’t carry weight—I couldn’t ask for better.’
Yet that wasn’t all. Beyond the belt’s base options, the special option seemed like it would be considerably useful to him as well.
‘The specialty of the Dragon Race is charging into enemies with brute force and pulverizing their bodies.’
In doing so, their enemies’ bodies naturally burst apart, scattering blood in all directions.
But if this Black Belt that Rihanna had made automatically absorbed that blood and provided the wearer with B+ grade healing?
‘B+ is slightly weaker than the A-grade potions I favor, sure. But in the heat of combat, I wouldn’t have to uncap a potion bottle and drink it—I’d just keep healing automatically. And the more enemy blood I spill, the longer the healing effect would last. Isn’t that incredible?’
No matter how he thought about it, the Black Belt’s special option seemed perfectly suited to the Dragon Race physiology.
‘Yes, yes. Perfect.’
Han Eol found himself eager to test this function immediately. His heart began to race, thump-thump.
Rihanna’s expression, by contrast, remained uncertain.
“Well? What do you think?”
Rihanna gauged Han Eol’s reaction with careful attention.
“Pardon? What about it?”
“The belt options. Do you like them?”
“Of course I—”
Han Eol was about to give a thumbs-up when—
Rihanna pushed out her lower lip.
Chapter 8
“Look, I didn’t know. I tried to pull options in that direction as much as I could since you wanted defensive gear. So I even tore apart that expensive Giant Spider’s web and poured it all in, but then the Interdimensional Space option just showed up. Giant Spider silk normally has elasticity over ten thousand times that of rubber and has a weight reduction effect too, which is an essential material for making Interdimensional Space items anyway… but since Interdimensional Space is such a ridiculously rare option to pull, I honestly never expected it to actually appear.”
Rihanna closed her eyes tightly and confessed honestly.
Han Eol stared blankly at her, bewildered. ‘What is she talking about?’
Then Rihanna snapped at him curtly.
“Tch. If you don’t like it that much, give it back. I’ll sell the Black Belt to someone else and make new defensive gear for you.”
“No, no. I don’t dislike it at all. I’m truly satisfied with it.”
Han Eol jumped up in alarm and wrapped his hands protectively around the belt.
It was a gesture that said he would never let it be taken from him.
Rihanna’s face lit up at once.
“Oh, so you like the belt I made? You do, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. An Interdimensional Space option—it’s the item I’ve always dreamed of having. Ha ha.”
“Really? Ahem. I knew it would work out. The Interdimensional Space option pushed the Item Grade all the way up to S-rank instead of A, and that’s why I decided to treat you to an expensive dinner, but I was so nervous wondering if my belt might not suit your taste. Hee hee hee.”
Rihanna finished her jest, then added with a touch of embarrassment,
“Though the special option is a bit underwhelming, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry—what do you mean?”
“The Vampiric Effect, I mean.”
“Why is that a problem?”
Han Eol didn’t immediately understand.
In truth, he found the Vampiric Effect—which absorbed enemies’ blood and converted it for healing—more impressive than the twelve-slot limit on the Interdimensional Space.
But Rihanna’s next words helped clarify things.
“The option itself is flawless, really. Usually when Interdimensional Space or Vampiric Effect appears, an S-rank is guaranteed. The problem is that the Vampiric Effect came as a special option rather than a basic one—a special option with conditions attached, you see.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And the conditions are absolutely terrible. The Vampiric Effect only activates when you refill the Demon Spirit Stone’s Mana—which means you’d have to swap out Demon Spirit Stones constantly during combat, but that triangular Demon Spirit Stone is already completely fused with the belt, making replacement virtually impossible. So for all practical purposes, that special option doesn’t exist. Ugh.”
Rihanna sighed with frustration.
Listening to her explanation, Han Eol could see why she was disappointed.
‘Swapping Demon Spirit Stones during combat—that’s absurd. Which means other Ability Users would never be able to use that special option at all.’
But Han Eol was different.
Since he’d already filled his Mixed Blood completely with Mana, he could continue infusing fresh Mana into it without replacing the stone at all.
‘This really is the perfect item for me.’
Han Eol stroked the glossy black belt with satisfaction.
While the chef plated sushi and served piece by piece, Han Eol and Rihanna continued to chat enthusiastically about the Black Belt.
“By the way, the name is quite distinctive. Rihanna’s Black Belt.”
“Ha ha ha. Is it awkward that I put my own name on it?”
Rihanna scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
Han Eol shook his head.
“Not at all. I actually think it’s a good move. When you become famous as a master craftsman later, this belt’s value will skyrocket right along with your name.”
“Hahahaha. You’ve got a good eye for this, don’t you?”
Rihanna laughed heartily and clenched her fists with determination.
“Just wait and see. I’ll make sure this Black Belt becomes invaluable. This is a secret, but I’m planning to release a whole series—Rihanna’s Ring, Rihanna’s Necklace, Rihanna’s Leather Boots, Rihanna’s Armor, and so on.”
“Wow. So a set-item concept?”
Han Eol’s eyes widened with curiosity.
Rihanna shrugged.
“Well, I’m not skilled enough yet to grant set effects. But I’m aiming for that kind of vision at least. And this Black Belt is the first work in that series.”
The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer
Author |
Jyunon
Publisher |
Samyang C&C
Editor in Chief |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C – Dream Books
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UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703071
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
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Without the written permission of Samyang C&C – Dream Books, the contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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