Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: What Dream Are You Dreaming, Na-young? (2)
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"Uwaaaah! Am I dying...?"
I screamed, then realized this wasn't the ocean and looked around frantically.
"Mumph, hmew, whatcha doin'?"
Pomi was staring at me, her mouth stuffed full of something.
"Swallow first, then talk."
"Munch munch... gulp. Jun-young, you're back already?"
"Yeah, I am. What a spectacular dream. Yellow sky, pirates... Joo Na-young's pirate cosplay was pretty cute."
I must have woken up right before crashing into the sea. Judging by her expression at the end, she probably remembered my face and realized it was a dream, which jolted her awake.
"Let's see... [Dream Demon]!"
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Registered Targets: 5/6 Kim Yu-ra (Asleep) Min Hyo-min (Asleep) Shin Ji-ah (Asleep) Yeon Du-na (Asleep) Lee So-eun (Asleep) ──────── Joo Na-young (Active) Sure enough, Joo Na-young's status had changed from asleep to active.
"Who knew the Dream Demon skill was like this? I thought it was for banging girls in their dreams."
The dream world I first entered wasn't some chill place where I could just have fun and dip out.
Maybe because of the terror of falling from such a height, the goosebumps on my arms still hadn't gone down. I was rubbing them when an annoying slurping sound hit my ears.
"Slurp, chomp, slurrrp!"
"While I'm busting my ass earning points for us, this little punk's chowing down on cup ramen alone? Hey! You think I'm grinding points just for my own benefit?!"
"Ung!"
"Uh? W-well, sure, there's that too, but this is to save your sister too, right? Everything's better... Is it tasty?"
Even though it was just a dream, the cold sea wind must've gotten to me, because my stomach growled at the sight of the steaming broth.
"Hehe. Want a bite?"
Pretending to give in, I peeked into the cup ramen container. There were barely five strands of noodles left.
Pomi trembled with her wooden chopsticks, her eyes pleading, 'Please say no.'
"Nah, forget it. You eat it all. I'll make my own bag ramen."
"Slorrrp. Bag ra-what?"
"No! Po. Gri. Guli! You lewd little demon."
Huh? Isn't succubus written as 'lewd demon' in Hanja? This kid was born a lewd demon!
"Slurp. Po, pogri? Wh-what's that?"
Pomi's eyes lit up at the unfamiliar word as she sipped her broth.
She must've caught the mysterious allure of it.
"It's like a human world skill to make ramen even tastier?"
"Ooooh! Never heard of it! Sis never mentioned anything like that!"
Of course not. If demons knew every little thing like this, their rep would go down the drain.
I told her to watch some variety shows while I made the bag ramen, but she was so curious she even turned off the monitor and followed me around like a puppy.
I pulled two packs of instant ramen from the cupboard, and she gave me a puzzled look.
"Two?"
"You said you'd only take one bite, but I know you'll hover and snag more. Just eat a whole one."
"Juuun... yoooung... nooo!"
She clung to my waist, rubbing her face against me all bunbun.
"I can't believe giving food makes you this happy..."
Chichi-chik, pour, whoosh.
With a sigh, I lit the gas stove and set the kettle on.
"Bag ramen and you're using a kettle? Ooh! Why cut the ramen in half? Put the spice mix in there?! Oooh, oooh!"
Pomi's excitement peaked when I poured water into the bag and sealed the top with chopsticks.
"Now we just wait."
"Ugh, I can't wait!"
Seeing her hopping in place, a mischievous idea struck me.
"Heh, actually, there's a secret trick to make bag ramen even better."
"What?! You were hiding that?!"
"Wanna know?"
Nod nod.
I lowered my voice and asked again to the vigorously nodding Pomi.
"You wanna know?"
"I wanna knowww!"
"Louder! Do you wanna─ Gack!"
Grab! Shake shake!
"Tell me nowww!"
"Guh, hack. Who taught you to grab your oppa by the collar... F-fine, I'll tell you, just let go..."
She finally loosened her grip.
Rubbing my freed neck, I leaned in and whispered.
"Phew... The secret... is nudity."
"Huh?"
"Stand naked on the balcony for exactly three minutes in the breeze, and your bag ramen tastes way better... Hey, I'm kidding! It might work, but... Ya! Don't actually go out! Someone sees us, I'll get reported! Yaaah!"
Despite my desperate pleas, she really stood naked in the dawn breeze for three minutes.
A bit later.
"Achoo, huff, huu... slurrrp! Chomp, chomp... I-it really tastes better, Jun-young. Sh-shivering."
Pomi chattered her teeth while slurping noodles, broth splattered on her happy smile here and there. I wiped it off with some tissue.
"Why it tastes better, I dunno, slurp, hehe, so good!"
"Fine, just shut up and eat already."
"Slurrrp, huff, huff."
We each held our bag of ramen, watched some variety shows, giggled together, and dozed off.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next day at the shop, Joo Na-young clearly remembered last night's dream.
She kept sneaking glances at my face, shaking her head to herself over and over.
This bitch is totally thinking inside, 'Why'd I dream of an ugly loser like that? Ugh, bad luck!'
For the record, my Loser Level didn't go up at all for the quest.
Makes sense. Yesterday I didn't show anything and just died.
Hope I get some progress today...
"I'll head out again tonight."
That night, after waving to Pomi, I dove back into the dream world. What unfolded before my eyes was...
"Huff, huff!"
"Meow!"
"Nyaa!"
"Nyaaw!"
Hundreds of cats! A massive horde of cats roamed the tiny village.
"So cuuute... No, where's Joo Na-young?"
No matter how I searched the village, I was the only human.
Even outside the village was blocked by an invisible wall—I couldn't leave.
"Hah..."
"Nyaa?"
Stunned and spacing out, a cute brown cat approached and started rubbing against my leg.
"Ooh, oooh!"
Is this the legendary cat-dog? It didn't run when I reached out—instead, it hopped right into my arms.
"Y-yeah. Who needs Joo Na-young? Today I'm playing with these guys!"
The next day, after burying myself in cats for a fun time, I opened the quest window and spotted something odd.
📜 QUEST 📜 Loser's Rebellion
(Duration: Within 30 days of accepting quest)
(Trigger: Level lower than target. Favorability + Submissiveness total -50 or below)
(Success: At start of intercourse, target's Favorability and Submissiveness each -40 or below. Current: -40, -35)
"What the? Why'd it go up like this?"
Joo Na-young's favorability and submissiveness had risen from -50/-50.
Normally I'd be thrilled, but for quest success, they needed to be -40 or lower.
The only clue was yesterday's dream. Was she one of those cats?
Sometimes in dreams, you become someone else.
Maybe she didn't appear as herself, but as a cat?
"At least show up as a person..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "What's wrong, Jun-young? You look exhausted. Want sis to rub your shoulders?"
Last night, Joo Na-young was a lone assassin.
Logged in and dropped into a hyper-detailed medieval European city, only to get a blade through my chest five minutes later.
This bitch doesn't play games at home or what? Why are these dreams so brutal?
Three days straight of nothing but forced logouts—I was pissed and tried re-logging, but it failed.
Pomi said if you exit manually with skill cancel, you can re-enter, but death-forced logouts prevent it.
This won't do.
"Was saving this for later..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Low-grade Skill Level-up Coupon] Select one skill R-grade or below (Lv.1 or lower) to raise its level by 1. The 'Low-grade Skill Level-up Coupon' I got from completing Yu-ra's [Devil's Return Visit] quest.
I'd been saving it for days, but time to use it here.
"Jun-young?"
Ugh, it hurts so bad to use it. Was gonna make a Lv.1 skill later! Damn you, Na-young!
I opened the status window's coupon tab and upgraded the skill.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Using [Low-grade Skill Level-up Coupon] on skill (Dream Demon, R). Skill level has increased. (Lv.0 → Lv.1) ⚔ SKILL UPGRADE ⚔ Dream Demon, R, Active/Inactive Interfere with another's dream. Target must be asleep. Lv.0: Invade another's dream. At this level, skill use restricted except [Dream Demon Inactive]. *Lv.1: Skill use now possible. Heh heh heh, Joo Na-young, you're screwed now. I'm not yesterday's me anymore.
"...Youngie."
Use Invisibility in the dream and chow down?
"Jun-young!"
"Ack, you scared me! Sis, why are you yelling?"
"Where's your head at? You okay for real?"
Only then did I notice Chae-yeon Sis looking at me with worry.
These past few days grinding Joo Na-young in dreams must've built up fatigue.
I was focused on the coupon, didn't hear her calling at all.
"I'm fine, Sis."
I smiled, and she jumped up, circled behind me, and grabbed my shoulders with her soft hands!
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Smack!
"Ow, hot!"
"You didn't hear a word I said! Sit still, sis is rubbing your shoulders."
"Huh?"
My eyes went wide at her sudden words, then Myeong-sook Auntie chimed in from across the room.
"Try it, kid. Her hands are magic. My shoulders hurt last time, felt great for half a day."
"Well, if you say so..."
Come to think of it, her talents included massage when I checked stats before...
I craned my neck to look up at Chae-yeon Sis with fresh eyes, and she rolled up her sleeves like a pro, pressing into my shoulders without asking.
"Huh? Sis, I didn't say y─ Aaaagh!"
Squeeze, squeeze.
"Ah, Sis, it hurts. Ow, wait."
Her fingers are so slender, why does it hurt this much!
"Whew, look at these knots. See?"
"Ah, augh."
"A man has to tough it out!"
"Ah, ah, Sis. Ungh."
As I winced and groaned, Chae-yeon Sis burst out laughing and smacked my back.
"Ow, what! Sis, he's making weird noises."
"Right? What kinda sounds are these?"
Squeeze, squeeze. Knead, knead.
"Stretch more often, got it? Better here? Huh?"
"Aaaah! Ah! You can tell from my reaction!"
"Here? ...Here?"
"Eek, euuugh."
I couldn't take more and squirmed forward. The two burst into laughter.
These ladies are toying with me.
"Aigoo, Jun-young's such a wimp. I'm off to the bathroom. Chae-yeon, do mine later too. Last time it lasted half a day."
"Sure, go ahead."
As Auntie patted her back and stood, Pomi asked from the side.
-Jun-young! Feels good? -Grind. So good I'd learn it just to do it to you. -Why clench your teeth? Chae-yeon Sis's massage hurt so much, my shoulders still ached. I rolled my neck and shoulders a few times. But then...
"Uh, ah... Huh? What's this."
"See? Feels good, right?"
Chae-yeon Sis grinned like she knew.
Whoa, what is this? The stiffness is way down. Even my drowsiness vanished.
"Wow, this is wild. Sis, where'd you learn this? You can't cook, though."
"Wanna get spanked?"
I flinched back as she wiggled her ten fingers threateningly. She chuckled, then spoke.
"Believe it or not, before marriage, sis worked at a massage─ Oops!"
What! M-massage parlor!