Villain's Refund System: The Protagonist's Harem Is Mine

Morning sunlight found Damien inside Mina’s workshop with both feet submerged in a metal recovery tub, while healing gel stung every cut below his knees.

His ribs had stopped grinding during normal breaths, ’victory feels great until somebody fills your socks with medicine, damn, this stuff reaches places pain forgot.’

Mina stood behind a crowded workbench wearing a plated apron over her cropped uniform, with goggles hiding both amber eyes from flying sparks.

She struck Damien’s black saber against a tuning block and watched its silver tally pulse weakly near the edge.

"Blocking a cleaver with this blade seventeen times was criminal," she said, turning the weapon beneath a lamp, "were you trying to offend metallurgy personally?"

"Yeah, my better plan involved not getting hit, though Bram refused to cooperate," Damien replied, lifting one foot from the burning gel.

"Put that foot back before I attach weights and restart your treatment," Mina warned, pointing her tempering hammer toward the tub without looking away from his saber.

Damien lowered his heel and opened the System Shop, ’she is five foot four with a wrench, yet somehow disobedience feels genuinely dangerous.’

[System Shop]

[System Points: 4,200]

[Skill Grimoire: Flicker]

[Cost: 3,100 SP]

[Script Page: Practical Exam]

[Cost: 2,500 SP]

[Skill Grimoire: Iron Veil]

[Cost: 4,800 SP]

He selected Flicker before the Script Page could tempt him again, then the screen flashed across his fingers.

[Purchase Confirmed]

[Flicker Acquired]

[System Points: 1,100]

Knowledge forced itself through Damien’s legs, teaching his muscles a short mana burst that folded one step across several meters.

’Oh, that feels very broken, which means trying it near Mina’s expensive equipment would be incredibly stupid.’

He looked toward the open training square beyond her workshop door, then climbed from the tub before healing gel finished dripping.

"Where are you going with my floor attached to both feet?" Mina asked, lifting her goggles as wet prints crossed the tiles.

"I bought a movement skill and need somewhere safe to crash," Damien replied, reaching for a towel beside the door.

Her eyes narrowed at the word bought, but she tossed his repaired saber across the room without asking what currency he meant.

"Crash outside, rich boy, since every machine here has more potential than your current personality," she said, following him anyway.

The training square sat between three workshop wings, with padded walls surrounding brass targets placed at five-meter intervals.

Damien stood before the nearest dummy and gathered mana below his knees, feeling Flicker’s textbook pattern lock into both ankles.

’The mana pushes before releasing into arrival, easy, except every academy fighter knows that rhythm, so normal use probably removes my head.’

He triggered the skill and vanished from his starting mark, then reappeared sideways above a low equipment cart.

Wood broke beneath his hip while metal tools jumped across the stones, which made Mina cover her mouth before laughter escaped.

"Magnificent movement, Lord Sterling," she said, crouching beside the wreckage, "the cart never saw your ass coming."

"The landing needs minor work," Damien replied, pulling a long clamp from beneath his coat, "everything before impact felt excellent."

Mina laughed harder and offered one grease-marked hand, then pulled him upright with surprising strength through her compact frame.

"Textbook Flicker exits forward, not sideways, so what did you change during activation?" she asked, brushing a splinter from his shoulder.

"The rhythm felt obvious," Damien said, moving toward the next target, "and predictable movement becomes a convenient place for swords."

He tried again while breaking the mana pulse early, appearing behind the dummy with one knee low enough to touch stone.

The third attempt put him above its shoulder, though his saber cleared the wooden neck before both boots landed.

’That landing nearly twisted my knee, good, nobody watching could predict where the next ugly exit ends.’

Mina circled the severed target and tapped one clean cut with her wrench, "That was disgusting enough to deserve another attempt at half speed."

Damien watched approval hide behind her insult, ’she likes the broken rhythm, damn, earning praise from Mina apparently requires offending basic movement theory.’

"Slower defeats the expensive part, though your curiosity might cover my replacement cart," Damien replied, repeating the foot position while she watched his ankles.

They trained until sunlight crossed half the square, with Mina moving targets whenever his pattern began looking comfortable.

Every changed angle forced Flicker through another ugly exit, leaving Damien’s legs shaking while the skill settled into his body.

[Flicker Mastery Increased]

[Flicker Lv 1 → Lv 2]

Damien sat against the padded wall and opened his exam assignment, finding the flooded rift route highlighted beneath tomorrow’s date.

’This is Lucas’s first medal, collapse at marker seven, weak team trapped below, then he holds the choke until proctors arrive.’

The route looked familiar until Damien tried remembering which support tunnel remained open after the first cave-in.

Two paths overlapped inside his head, and neither carried enough detail to trust with somebody’s life.

’Damn, four percent Divergence already ate the turn, so I need a Page or I walk into that rift guessing.’

A purchase prompt opened when he focused on the missing memory, offering partial restoration for more SP than his remaining balance.

[Script Page Fragment]

[Practical Exam Route]

[Cost: 1 Memory Detail]

[Foreknowledge Integrity Loss: 2%]

"You look terrible again," Mina said, sitting beside him with the saber across both knees, "did your new skill charge interest through the face?"

"I am trying to remember an old route," Damien replied, keeping the system panel beyond her sight, "something useful is stuck behind damage."

"Very normal answer," she said, pressing a cold metal sensor against his temple, "hold still while I confirm your brain remains expensive enough to save."

The sensor showed nothing she could read, though Damien accepted the fragment while her hand steadied his head.

[Memory Detail Burned]

[Foreknowledge Integrity: 96% → 94%]

One route sharpened instantly, revealing a maintenance ladder behind marker nine and a weak wall opening toward the surface.

Another memory vanished with it, taking the name of a future instructor Damien knew would eventually betray Lucas.

’There was somebody important, no, that memory is gone, you idiot, stop digging before another piece falls out.’

Pain tightened around his eyes, and Mina lowered the sensor before pushing a water flask against his chest.

The missing name left an empty ache behind his temple, ’I spent a person for one route, shit, memory really does charge blood prices.’

"Drink before you fall onto another innocent cart," she said, watching his pupils, "your mana jumped while every scanner stayed flat."

Damien took the flask and drank half, then opened the practical map between them on his phone.

"Marker seven collapses first, though this ladder behind nine stays open toward the surface," he said, pointing at an unmarked wall.

Mina enlarged the route and frowned, "Halcrest maps show solid rift stone there, so how exactly did you remember a maintenance ladder?"

"Badly," Damien answered, standing before her suspicion became another question, "bring a wall cutter tomorrow and choose the sensor post near marker six."

"Giving me orders after collapsing into workshop furniture feels bold," she replied, rising with the saber held against one shoulder.

"Choose the safe route if preferred," he said, taking the weapon, "but marker six lets you prove I am wrong from nearby."

Mina stared at him before an unwilling grin pulled one corner of her mouth, ’yeah, she heard challenge instead of warning, which I should have expected.’

The academy assignment updated across both phones while distant bells announced evening registration.

[Practical exam]

[Rift Route: Flood Line Seven]

[Team Lead: Lucas Arden]

[Support Placement: Mina Park]

[Independent Challenger: Damien Sterling]

Damien looked at Lucas’s name above the route where the hero was supposed to earn everything, then slid his saber into place.

’Lucas can keep the title printed above this route, I want every trapped student alive before taking whatever reward hides beneath the collapse.’