88. Contemplation (Part 2 Start)
88. Contemplation (Part 2 Start)
I slept for almost a whole day just like that.
Woke up, and it was the afternoon of the 15th.
'Mid-May, huh.'
Opening the door on the second floor of the pension, a clean hallway greeted me.
Smelling something delicious, it seemed like someone was cooking.
I crawled to the veranda and looked outside.
The scenery of I-Pension in Nami-myeon, plastered in green.
I did pick a good spot.
However, due to the nature of a pension, it can't accommodate more than a certain number of people.
Maybe about 10 people here?
If it goes beyond that, I'll have to build a Multi.
And the food supply is gradually running low, too.
'Food, huh.'
I should start gathering some food soon.
The logistics centers in this vicinity.
Meaning, I need to go to the other two places, not the logistics center that the 32nd Division left behind, and haul away all the food there.
Though, it's not like we're short on food right now.
Because we can keep getting chickens and eggs.
The chicks chirping over there, and Eun-bin and A-rin watching them.
The smell of poop must be terrible, but as expected of the Taming skill, they could even be trained to use the bathroom.
Since I can perfectly control 30 of them at lv.3, the chicken and egg problem at our base is now perfectly solved.
'On top of that, I even got a farming-related ability user.'
I got Kim Young-jin, who has the Plant Growth ability.
Even at level 1 with 20% growth, they were using him well over in Jeungpyeong. If he hits lv.3 like A-rin's group, it'll be a lot better.
I'll ask about the farming stuff later.
There's no one to farm anyway.
Actually, I could bring them over, but if I leave those people there, there will definitely be problems.
For now, it's better to just make do with our own people and try leveling up the Plant Growth ability.
"Ughhh."
My body is so tired.
Well, I've been pulling all-nighters recently.
I resolved the Cheonan Warlords situation, but I don't know if I did it well.
I feel like I could have done better.
Saved more people, too.
'Forget it.'
I'm 26 years old.
A company I joined right after graduating from a four-year university.
I was a deputy manager at a small company called Seokyoung Chemical, a subcontractor for IN Company, but that was just a title; I was basically a handyman.
Even the work I was doing when the outbreak started was delivering unknown liquids to the IN Company Cheongju Branch under Manager Yoon's orders.
I don't know why those fucking assholes hired me for an office job and then made me do all the shitty work.
Manager Yoon, that fucking bastard, too—if I meet him again, I'll have to kill him.
Anyway.
So, I don't have that much social experience.
All I learned out in society was to say "yes, yes" to annoying tasks, greet people briskly, and mostly keep my mouth shut.
So, I have no experience in managing a group like this.
And no talent for it either.
Probably, if it weren't for Seo-yoon, I wouldn't have even thought about running a group like this.
In fact, I'm almost entirely relying on Seo-yoon's ability to run it.
"Hmm... so that's why you called me?"
"Yeah."
"...I was a high school student, you know? I didn't even get to step foot in college."
I called Seo-yoon, but she's 6 years younger than me.
I did something stupid.
I should have called Eun-bin before Seo-yoon.
A smart woman.
A woman with more social experience than me.
But why did I call Seo-yoon?
My thoughts are drifting off.
A base created by saving people.
But for Seo-yoon, it's closer to... kidnapping than saving.
Come to think of it, I saved Seo-yoon, Eun-bin, and the other women, but I basically left them to their own devices.
Seo-yoon's Contract ability, which allows for management while ignoring all these things, was a crazy ability.
'Well, that must be why Chairman Elias chose this ability.'
"Haa-um."
The woman yawning beside me, looking sleepy.
I hand her some chocolate I picked up earlier.
"Ugh, dark chocolate."
"Don't like it?"
"It's not that I don't like it... but it's a bit, you know? Before a meal."
"Were you cooking?"
"No. The others are doing it today."
"What is it?"
"They said they're making some kind of porridge with chicken."
"Chicken porridge?"
"Yeah."
"Well, we can't make things like fried chicken."
"We'll never be able to eat that again, right?"
"Probably. Or we could just find a few chefs."
Seo-yoon pops it into her mouth as she says that.
It's random, but I have this thought.
Why does she follow me so well?
"Mmm. Why are you staring?"
Seo-yoon asks me as I stare at her.
I asked her.
"Do you have any complaints about me?"
"What are you suddenly talking about?"
The woman blinks her eyes.
I asked.
"You were basically kidnapped and dragged here."
"Hmmmm."
"If you have any inner thoughts, tell me. I'll listen."
I suddenly got curious.
Then Seo-yoon asks.
"Now?"
I have nothing to say to that.
Now, huh.
That's true. It's already been 4 months since I met her.
We've had sex and talked in between, but we never had this kind of conversation.
No, to be precise, we both avoided it.
She is under a contract with me.
She's in a situation where she can't lie to me.
"It's a bit embarrassing. Since you're suddenly saying this. I'll give you a chance to change the subject. Alright, 3, 2..."
She tries to read my expression, even joking around.
I just stared at her.
"Ugh, do I really have to say it?"
"Yeah."
The woman says with a sigh.
"At first, I hated it. Obviously... I didn't know my first time would be like that, and from the beginning, I was threatened by Oppa that I'd die."
Seo-yoon looked at me.
I listened silently.
"I cried a lot. On days when I was home alone."
Seo-yoon grumbles.
She says, pouting her lips.
"But... I got used to that too. Maybe because the world is like this. Or maybe because I was left alone."
Seo-yoon sighs.
"And then one day, I suddenly thought about it. Isn't my life still important? Hearing about the men Oppa brought and killed, and fighting the Infected... I consoled myself, thinking I would have died if it weren't for this person. It's better than dying in the apartment. And that was the truth, too."
The woman looks straight at me.
"Well, if it had ended there, I would have just accepted it and moved on, but from one day, it became like this."
She continues.
"I don't know if this is a love-hate relationship or Stockholm Syndrome. I'm crazy, right?"
"Yeah."
"...Can't you deny it at times like this?"
Not normal.
"I don't know why I like a man like this. Rapist. Pervert. Die."
She hands me the contract.
A contract stating she cannot lie.
I agree to it.
ㅡKkudeudeudeuk
The contract.
"Do you like me?"
I said.
"I do."
In many ways.
The woman's eyes widen.
"...Why?"
"Just because."
"...What do you mean 'just because'? Explain it to me."
"......"
"Ugh. Don't go silent. You're the one who made me say embarrassing things, so why are you like this? Huh? I'm going to get sulky, okay?"
I went silent again.
"Ugh, fine, whatever."
Seo-yoon curled up.
How should I put it. There's something different about her compared to the other women.
Anyway.
I changed the subject.
"I'm going to gather people now."
"Okay."
She answered quickly, following the mood.
"It's right to keep your ability active, right? Or should I let them talk and vent like you did?"
"Hmm..."
Seo-yoon said, pursing her lips.
"Just... wouldn't it be better to keep it maintained like this? You never know when people's hearts might change."
"That's true."
"I don't trust people. Without this ability, I wouldn't have been able to trust anyone."
"Same here."
Well, since a crazy woman and a crazy man met, that's why we're getting along well like this.
No, she's normal, and I'm the crazy one.
"So, about that."
"Yes."
I took out a piece of paper.
I wrote down what I had been thinking.
Number 1. A method of leaving only the really important personnel here and creating a Multi.
Number 2. A method of continuing to gather and raise people here.
"Number 1 will be easier for you. You just have to contract the higher-ups and leave them be. But there's a chance that Multi will get destroyed. Like the logistics center. Number 2 will be a bit harder for you. But the risk will be lower. Which one do you think is better?"
The reason I'm asking this.
Is because Seo-yoon is the one who will be doing it.
Contract ability.
Seo-yoon thinks for a bit.
And soon makes a decision.
"I think... number 1 would be better."
"Can you tell me why?"
It wouldn't be because it's easy.
"Surely... the Contract ability must have loopholes. Like when that researcher guy died last time. The people here... I mean, the ones whose inner thoughts I've heard and dealt with are fine, but someone will definitely come along who exploits those loopholes. So it's better if the number is small. The more people there are, the higher the chance of loopholes appearing. And if there are a lot of people, like if it grows to several hundred, honestly, I don't know if I can place contracts on all of them."
"That makes sense."
A realistic answer.
It was also the truth.
Certainly, it's impossible to control hundreds or thousands of people with a single contract.
Even that IN Company Chairman guy only placed contracts up to the division head level, didn't he?
"Well, alright. You're smart, as expected."
"Hmph."
Seo-yoon makes a triumphant expression.
I looked at her, smiled, and lay down.
Seeing that, Seo-yoon slides in next to me.
She burrows into my arms.
And says.
"...Are you going to call the other women?"
To be precise, she means, are you going to have this kind of conversation with them?
"No."
I don't think there's any need to do that.
I might do it later, but not right now.
I climbed on top of Seo-yoon.
"No, wait. I-I didn't say that to do this."
#
I see a slender waist.
And snow-white thighs.
And a soft belly.
When I place my hand on it, her body flinches.
My fingers trace down along the graceful curves.
Seo-yoon grabs my hand.
But she's not telling me to stop.
"Ugh."
Lips meet lips.
Flesh meets flesh, then pulls apart.
A flushed face looks up at me.
I lower my head and bury it in Seo-yoon's chest.
I take the pink nipple and the raised peak into my mouth.
"Haa..."
A thick sigh escapes from above.
I insert my fingers into the hole along her damp lower abdomen.
ㅡJjilkkeok
ㅡJjilkkeok
Lubricant leaking out.
I lift it up and show her.
"Ugh. Why are you showing me that?"
"Don't like it?"
"...It's not that I don't like it, but it's embarrassing."
She turns her head away sharply.
While doing so, she grabs my lower part firmly.
"Oppa, you're leaking too."
"Yeah. A bit embarrassing."
"Do you like it that much?"
"Yeah."
"...Ugh."
Seo-yoon grumbles. I kiss her secret spot.
Seo-yoon makes a "H-hup" sound.
But she doesn't refuse.
Because she's become a lewd woman now.
"Ugh. Ugh."
A woman feeling pleasure.
Before long, she ejaculates.
The woman's face turns red like a beet.
But she doesn't refuse.
Because she's become a woman who fully feels pleasure now.
I climbed on top of her.
"Was it jealousy that made you say not to call the other women?"
"...It was jealousy, yes."
"Yeah. You'd hate it too. Me playing with other women."
"...Originally, I should hate this kind of conversation, right? But, I guess my liking for you is bigger."
"I like you more too."
"......"
"......"
The atmosphere becomes strange in an instant.
But we kept our mouths shut.
Because she must have her own troubles too.
Actually, in a man-woman relationship, I did start out too messily and coercively.
"But I still like it."
But Seo-yoon smiles while saying that.
That's why it's right for me to prioritize protecting her.
"Because you think of me first."
The woman who says exactly what I'm thinking.
I kept my mouth shut and inserted into her.
The tightening vaginal opening.
The vaginal walls wriggling inside.
ㅡJjilkkeok
A lewd sound echoes. Come to think of it, I should satisfy her tastes too.
"Seo-yoon."
"Ugh... yeah."
A loosened voice.
My face must be flushed red too.
"Do you want to do that... fetish of yours?"
"Huh?"
The woman makes a dumb sound.
But soon she realizes what I'm talking about and her face turns red.
"Ugh... ugh. Porn, porn tastes are different from the real thing. Don't ruin the mood."
"Still. You must have watched it because you were interested."
"...Later, let's do it later."
I didn't bother saying "You didn't say you wouldn't." More than that, the fetish for licking a man's ass is a bit serious.
I didn't bother bringing this up out loud either.
Because she comes first right now.
I moved my waist.
ㅡJjilkkeok
ㅡJjilkkeok
Seo-yoon also likes moving slowly like this.
It's not that she dislikes it when it's rough, though. I guess this means we're a good match.
My flushed member and her lower abdomen collide with a ㅡpaang ㅡpaang sound.
I flick her erect nipple with my finger.
I press my lips against her bitten lips.
Her arched back.
Her trembling legs.
"Ugh. Ugh..."
Seo-yoon goes, feeling a massive orgasm.
I also ejaculate shortly after.
ㅡKkulleok
ㅡKkulleok
Semen going inside.
But it wasn't over yet. Because Seo-yoon looked at me with sticky eyes.
I turned her over and aligned my member with her vaginal opening again.
#
After dinner, another day passed.
As Seo-yoon said, I didn't see the other women personally, just talked a bit.
There didn't seem to be any particular problems.
Eun-bin, A-rin, and Yun-ji too.
Everyone seemed satisfied with this situation. Well, they are women who directly experienced the apocalypse.
Although, in Eun-bin's case, I actually showed her directly.
Seol-hwa didn't seem to have any complaints either.
Well, this place is much better than Eunha University.
As for So-young and Min-ah.
They're slaves.
To be cold about it, I don't really have any interest.
Yu-rim has been bright ever since her body recovered.
Like that.
May 16th.
I called Kim Young-jin.
"So, you're saying you can somehow manage rice farming too?"
"Yes. My ability makes crops a bit stronger. If we can just find more people, I think it'll work."
"Plant Growth?"
"Yes. I've harvested potatoes and sweet potatoes a few times, and they did better than previous farming attempts. The produce was better, too. To the point where people were saying it denied the basic farming system or whatever."
"If we have the manpower, it's worth trying to harvest rice or wheat."
"Then what do you think will happen if you level up?"
"...Huh?"
"Your level."
Kim Young-jin's current level is lv.1. It was lv.1 66/100. I can raise it to lv.3 in an instant.
"Oh, is that okay?"
"You're a member of this base now. I have to invest. I've already contracted you, too. While I'm at it, let's prepare right away."
"Understood. Then, uh, should I take a weapon like a baseball bat?"
"Why would you take that? You should take a gun."
"Huh?"
"Follow me. Since I thought of it, let's get it done."
"Yes...?"
I took the flustered Kim Young-jin and leveled him up for a day. Kim Young-jin lv.3.
He definitely caught on faster than the women, probably because he's a military veteran.
Like that, May 17th.
I tested the lv.3 Plant Growth ability.
"Do radish sprouts grow fast?"
"Ah. Yes. I always carry this around... so I used this for the experiment first."
"I see. How many days does it take?"
"It usually takes about a week, but I harvested it in 5 days."
5 days.
That's 20%.
Then what about Plant Growth level 3?
"Let's do it right away. You know how to farm, right, Young-jin-ssi?"
"Yes. Then should I sow everything here?"
"No. How about doing it in this small flowerpot?"
"Ah, you don't have to do the radish sprouts here. Do you happen to have a net or something?"
The man brings radish sprouts and sows them on the net.
ㅡUuuung
White ability energy comes out.
After watering it and using the ability, sprouts appear in 10 minutes.
"Does it usually come out like this?"
"...No, this usually takes about 3 days."
It comes out in 10 minutes.
"Is it fully grown?"
"It's just sprouted. Once it grows a bit more from here, it'll be ready to eat..."
Plant Growth.
Isn't this 20, 30, 40, 50, 60?