The Mansion's Secret

Shin Sua dreamed. Kim Taeyang was gently strangling her neck with both hands. The exquisite control of force kept her breathing and blood flow just barely sustained. Her body went limp, her consciousness sinking. She couldn't think a thing.

For Shin Sua, who was always pondering and scheming to get what she wanted, this was a kind of liberation. Even knowing it was a dream, the situation of being pinned under an insignificant delinquent, her life toyed with, freed her from the crushing responsibility and pressure of being the heir to Goryeo Group. It awakened the hidden emotions deep inside her.

Kim Taeyang stared down at her with cold eyes, saying nothing. The blatant contempt from the man she'd seen as a mere pawn. And yet, his touch was soft, contrary to the chill in his gaze. It's a dream, just a dream. Those two excuses circling her dulling mind filled the void of her crumbling pride with pleasure.

She didn't need to think about anything. Right now, she just wanted to surrender her body to this man's touch and let everything go.

"Hah... ahh..."

The bizarre sensation from oxygen deprivation. Her body felt like it was floating away. It was right then, as the masochistic urges stirred to life within Shin Sua—

"...Hah."

The hands around her neck vanished. And five minutes after smooth oxygen flow resumed, her brain finally sounded the belated alarm.

Shin Sua bolted upright, flicked on the light, and immediately checked her neck in the mirror. No strangulation marks. Just a few short thread scraps on her smooth skin.

Creeeak. The sound of the door creaking open in the breeze. Looking back, the door she'd closed before bed was now ajar enough for a person to slip through.

"......"

A chill ran down her spine. An inexplicable fear washed over her. She couldn't sleep in this room tonight. Even though she wasn't fully awake, Shin Sua moved quickly. Grabbing just her pillow, she dashed into the hallway, heading instinctively for the one place where she could sleep most peacefully.

"Eek..."

The dark hallway was scary as ever, slowing her to 0.8 m/s, but she hurried anyway.

* * *

"...Why does she look like she's enjoying it?!"

Mun Hee-jeong muttered in exasperation from afar, manipulating her threads to choke Shin Sua's neck. It was true she couldn't apply much force remotely. She hadn't meant to kill her—just give the cheeky girl a scolding—but seeing the victim writhing in pleasure was utterly baffling.

"T-This isn't what I...!"

The unexpected reaction made Mun Hee-jeong hesitate. And the resulting inner turmoil woke the sleeping Mun Ikjeom.

The voice from the hedgehog doll was soft yet carried an unyielding sternness.

"Ancestor... this isn't—"

Mun Hee-jeong tried to explain, but Mun Ikjeom mercilessly triggered the Genealogy Oath penalty.

In the next instant, the fibers of her clothes disintegrated into powder and scattered.

"Ah, aaah... hngh..."

Mun Ikjeom, who valued loving the people and nation above all, had set just one condition in the Genealogy Oath: 'Do no harm to the innocent.' And Mun Hee-jeong had broken it. For the next three days, she couldn't wear any fiber-based clothes.

"Sniff, hnggu."

Collapsing and sobbing, Mun Hee-jeong activated her Spirit Lord Transformation. Countless threads wrapped around her body. What formed wasn't clothes, but a giant hedgehog costume.

"...What the hell have I done."

Only after covering herself with this loophole and calming her shame did Mun Hee-jeong reflect on her actions. She'd committed a grave wrong against a classmate. Now that reason had returned, she realized the scream she'd overheard from Shin Sua held no solid proof it was from hooking up with Kim Taeyang.

"Idiot... moron..."

Mun Hee-jeong bonked her head with her clenched fist. She was wrong to try choking Sua, but this was all Kim Taeyang's fault. At least, if only there was a way to confirm if they'd really done it.

"Is this really okay, me...?"

Mun Hee-jeong hesitated briefly, then acted on the idea that popped into her head. And moments later.

"...Warm."

Confirming the consistency and amount of the liquid delivered by her thread-made box, Mun Hee-jeong smiled in satisfaction. Nothing had happened between Kim Taeyang and Shin Sua. Just as Taeyang-ie said—they'd been diligently preparing for their formal meeting spar.

The naked Mun Hee-jeong, relieved, donned her hedgehog costume and walked back to the dorms.

* * *

It had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been a while since his last dream. Soft, slender fibers wrapping his entire body in vivid sensation. And for some reason, Mun Hee-jeong's face flickering in his mind. And her body.

"Urgh..."

A sudden surge of arousal, followed by a damp, unpleasant wetness that snapped his eyes open.

"What the— no way."

A foreboding premonition flashed through his mind. Slowly sitting up and flipping the blanket, he saw his pants halfway down. Spot on. His underwear reeked of night-blooming flowers. White thread scraps clung around it as a bonus.

"Oh come on."

Did Gemma pull some prank? "Hey. What'd you do?" He shook the Soul Thread Bracelet, but no response. Not Gemma, then.

"Phew."

No way a wet dream disqualified him from the Grand Offering. It wasn't even on purpose. Seventeen-year-old bodies were a hassle like this—overly vigorous and healthy, full of needless urges. Still, that dream. It was Mun Hee-jeong.

'I get you're at that prime age, but don't go groping every girl just 'cause you're horny.' Gemma's earlier words echoed.

And the explicit image of Mun Hee-jeong from the dream resurfaced. Kim Taeyang pressed his forehead and changed clothes. If that damn Gemma hadn't planted the idea, this wouldn't have happened. Was he actually interested in Mun Hee-jeong?

He shook off the lingering delusions and checked the time. 4:30 AM. Plenty of time to finish his earlier task before school. Alright, time to—

"Huh?"

The gift box from Mun Hee-jeong was torn open. Gemma after all? He hadn't touched it, so yeah, rude—but she must've been stressed, so good-guy me will let it slide. Next time she's in a good mood, remind her not to act like a kid. Though, honestly, it was kinda cute.

Rustle. Opening the paper box revealed a pair of clean black-and-white cotton gloves. An application of the cotton armor crafting from the original work. As a lacquer-free prototype, performance would be average, but transferring the ring's blessing here made it worthwhile—

"Wait, this..."

Upon close inspection, he realized the gloves' completion far exceeded the game's version. Powerful ancestor power emanated from both exterior and interior. In the game, Mun Hee-jeong's initial gloves had only faint traces of Mun Ikjeom's blessing. She hadn't reached this level of Mourning Clothes until mastering a new Spirit Lord Transformation application, as he recalled.

She'd definitely awakened her talent far ahead of schedule.

"How'd this happen."

Such miscalculations were always welcome. No need for his hints anymore—he'd shower her with praise. And prepare a small reward.

Swish. Slipping on the gloves, the inner threads warmly enveloped his hands.

Multiple layers of cotton stitched over the back of his hands, yet the fabric around his fingers was so comfortable it barely registered. The result of Mun Hee-jeong's Spirit Lord Transformation threads merging with the blessing. Defense capabilities were probably top-notch too.

Beep. As he slowly examined the gloves' quality, challenge notifications popped up one after another.

Feeling his spirit power grow stronger, Kim Taeyang removed the gloves, stacked them palm-up on the table. The enhancement ticket seemed auto-applied—a faint light briefly infused them before fading. No clue what improved, but first things first.

"Where'd I put it."

He pulled out the knight's ring where Joan of Arc slept and the soul ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stone from the challenge reward.

Swish. Placing the soul stone on the gloves, then the ring atop it, changes began. The blessing morphed into ectoplasm, overflowing from the ring and getting sucked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the soul stone. Joan was still dormant in the ring, but this way, the blessing would slowly transfer to the gloves via the stone. In about three hours, absorption would complete. Carefully backing away to avoid shaking the table, he turned off the light and lay back down.

But as he lay there—

Bang! Shin Sua flung open the door without knocking and barged in.

"Ah..."

Her dazed face gaped in shock at him, as if she hadn't imagined he'd be here.

"What."

"Why're you here?"

Her bleary eyes and messy hair. Negligee attire—she'd woken up recently. Not a sleepwalker, so why visit in the dead of night? Conclusion: still half-asleep.

"You told me to crash here."

"Oh. Right."

Oh right, my ass.

"Ugh."

Shin Sua rubbed her sleepy eyes vigorously with her arms, finally fixing her usual bright gaze on him.

"Move. I'm sleeping here tonight."

"What bullshit is this now."

"Intruder's in the house."

"Wake everyone and search."

"That's kinda..."

It might just be her imagination. But you never know.

Shin Sua mumbled softly. She knew full well an intruder in Goryeo Group's mansion was ridiculous.

"How are you a Shangju and still scared of ghosts."

"I'm not scared at all!"

Shin Sua's sudden yell roused Gemma from the Soul Thread Bracelet.

"Thinks she saw an intruder and can't sleep."

"When did I say—"

"Or was it a ghost."

Teasing her, Shin Sua hurled her pillow. He dodged naturally.

"Why would I say that crap..."

Gemma asked with a mischievous grin.

"Shut it."

He almost nodded reflexively, but pride slammed the brakes.

"Anyway! Get off the bed. You, your ancestor spirits—out. If you don't wanna go, crash on the sofa."

Shin Sua strode over, shoved him off the bed, and flopped down.

"Sniff sniff... what's this. Flowers?"

As he headed for the sofa, he saw her bury her nose in the blanket, sniffing.

"I get you can't afford perfume, but don't use cheap crap like this."

"...Yeah."

"Tomorrow, buy something proper with the card I gave you. That's an order."

"...Got it."

Feeling guilty, he couldn't tell her what flower scent she'd actually smelled.

"And just so you know, if you try anything funny while I'm asleep, you're dead."

With that, Shin Sua turned off the light and yanked the blanket over herself.

It was then. Gemma tilted her head at the bookshelf filling one wall.

"What?"

He couldn't ignore that. His vision darkened as he activated the new trait. The sixth sense for detecting hidden passages or treasures tinged the bookshelf's edges bluish.

"Seems like it."

He approached the bed where Shin Sua lay and yanked off the blanket.

"Shin Sua."

"Eek!"

She'd been warming her right hand between her thighs against the cold; now she screamed.

"You bastard! Psycho! Die! Go kill yourself!"

"Get up. Not time to sleep."

Her tiny fists pounded his back, but he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ignored them and activated Spirit Lord Transformation.

"Passepartout."

Clunk. The sound of a lock releasing.

Rumble rumble rumble...

The bookshelf slid aside on its own, revealing the hidden passage behind it.