Negotiation with Seunghee
I answered honestly. “Ah, um… yeah, that’s right…”
Seunghee had decided there was no point in hiding it anymore. Or maybe she’d concluded that she no longer needed to. Either way, it was a relief that she was finally being honest. If we were going to keep living together, there couldn’t be any secrets between us.
“Good. Honestly, I don’t really care if you masturbate here or go outside and kill yourself. To be even more blunt, I’d rather not care at all.”
“Ugh…”
Seunghee let out a gloomy groan at my words. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d brought up masturbation or because I’d said I wouldn’t mind if she died.
“Of course, Mom won’t feel the same way. She’ll want you to stay here safely with us. But once we actually start living together, she’ll probably feel uncomfortable with you watching her. That’s just how my mother is.”
“…Yeah. I think I understand what you mean.”
This time, Mom had done it without thinking because she assumed Seunghee wasn’t watching. But there was no guarantee that would always be the case. The moment Mom realized Seunghee was right there watching, her behavior would definitely become more reserved. For the sake of a comfortable life on this deserted island, that was a situation we had to avoid.
“Well, if we’re going to live together, that’s just something we’ll have to deal with. Still, I want to respect Mom’s wishes as much as possible. So if you decide to stay here with us, I’ll cooperate with you as much as I can—even if you don’t earn any coins.”
“……”
I avoided saying it outright, but in short, I was telling her I’d let her stay here even if she didn’t have sex with me. The fact that masturbation had come up as a mission meant she could earn coins on her own if she had to. As long as she didn’t get greedy, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Seunghee to survive by herself. And if she fell short, we could help make up the difference.
“Take a good look. You have three options, Seunghee.”
I held up my fingers one by one as I explained.
“One. Leave this place alone.”
“Ugh…”
“I’d really prefer you didn’t choose this one, but if you absolutely hate it here, I’ll let you go quietly. I can explain it to Mom somehow. If it comes down to it, I can even escort you back to the starting point.”
Seunghee shook her head vigorously. Leaving this place was basically the same as committing suicide. I’d thought that if she stubbornly insisted, there’d be nothing I could do, but it seemed she at least had some sense in her head.
“Two. Live here with us and gather as many coins as possible with the intention of reviving Seungpil.”
Seunghee listened with a stiff expression. Was she thinking about her dead older brother?
“Needless to say, gathering coins here means you’ll have to engage in all kinds of sexual acts, including sex. You understand that much, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Even if you choose this option, I won’t give you any special treatment. Obviously we won’t be dating, and you shouldn’t expect any affection from me. If you’re willing to do it, I’ll cooperate as much as I can, but my priority will always be Mom first.”
“……”
As expected, Seunghee looked downcast. It was probably a blow to her pride as a woman. But this was something I absolutely had to make clear.
In military terms, Seunghee was still “wet behind the ears” when it came to society. The fact that she’d asked me to date her right after Seungpil died was proof enough. In normal society, when a man and woman date, it’s often the woman who holds the reins while the man tries to please her.
When Seunghee asked me out, she was probably thinking along those lines.
Now that I’m your girlfriend, you should do everything I want.
I won’t do it when I don’t feel like it. Only when I want to.
I don’t like you doing it with other women. If you have to, get my permission first.
It was an extreme example, but that was how her suggestion to date had sounded to me. Obviously, I had no intention of playing along. I hadn’t done it in regular society, so why would I do it in this screwed-up world?
Seunghee would always be secondary. Mom came first. I needed to drill that fact into her head—that I was the one in control.
“Did you understand everything up to this point? Good. And finally, option three. You stay here, but you don’t do anything sexual, and in return, you don’t interfere with us either.”
She’d probably pick this one. It was the most efficient and comfortable path. If I were in her position, I’d choose it too.
“Even if you choose this, I’ll help you as much as I can. However, there is one minimum condition.”
I pulled out the item I’d prepared in advance and held it out to her. Dangle the delicious bait first, then state the conditions. That was the basics of negotiation.
“You’ll have to wear this at all times.”
But the moment Seunghee saw what I was offering, she scrunched up her face in clear disgust. I could understand why. It was the kind of item that would definitely qualify as sexual harassment if a man asked a woman to wear it.
“…What is this?”
“A bikini.”
“I can see that.”
It was the item I’d received as a reward from the recent Sudden Mission. A special costume of the same type as the bikini Mom was wearing.
◈ Increases pet hatching speed, growth speed, intimacy gain, and all stats by 33% uniformly.
“Pet?”
“As you know, Mom’s bikini has a bug-repelling effect. Since she hates bugs, she probably won’t want to wear anything else. That’s why I’d like you to wear this one.”
“No, what’s a pet?”
When Seunghee asked again, I pulled out the other item I’d received along with the bikini.
◈ A pet egg that guarantees a pet of Rare grade or higher. When placed in an incubator, a random pet will hatch in 1 to 15 days. The longer it takes, the higher the chance of a higher-grade pet.
“Whoa. It’s gold.”
It really did look like a golden egg. It felt quite heavy when I picked it up. Even Seunghee, who had been sulking, lit up at the sight of its obviously expensive appearance.
“I don’t know what it is, but something’s supposed to hatch from it, right?”
“If it’s real gold, can’t we just sell it like this?”
“Where’s the jewelry store on a deserted island?”
“Oh. Right.”
This Rare Pet Egg was the reward for the mission I hadn’t checked yet—“Penetrate Your Partner’s Hymen with Your Cock.” And the red bikini was the reward for the follow-up mission, “Ejaculate Inside Your Partner’s Virgin Pussy!”
“If you just wear this bikini, I’ll consider it as doing your part. So wearing this is the minimum condition for staying here.”
I didn’t know what a pet was, but whatever came out would surely be helpful. This world had strangely game-like elements, after all.
“Bikini… pet…”
Seunghee fell into deep thought with the bikini and golden egg in front of her.
“Take your time. I can wait a few days.”
I was feeling generous right now. I had enough patience to forgive her even if she dragged it out for a whole week. That way, I could use the excuse of feeding the freeloader Seunghee to enjoy some quality alone time with Mom.
Leaving Seunghee to her thoughts, I opened the phone shop and searched for an incubator to hatch the egg. Surprisingly, the incubators were listed under consumables.
Basic Incubator
A device that hatches pet eggs. One-time use.
Price: 100 coins
Hmm. One-time use and it still costs 100 coins? That’s expensive.
But that wasn’t even the shocking part. There was something even more expensive below it.
Premium Incubator
A device that hatches pet eggs. One-time use.
※ Option: Hatching speed increased by 100%. Slightly increases pet rarity.
Price: 1,000 coins
One thousand coins?! For a one-time use item?!
Even though I’d been feeling pretty smug about having a ton of coins, I still froze at the price.
“One thousand coins…”
I crossed my arms just like Seunghee and fell into thought. A thousand coins was definitely a lot of money. It was enough to buy the refrigerator, electrical system, and washing machine I’d prioritized and still have change left over. I could even buy two of the most expensive beds. Most of all, the “slightly increases pet rarity” part kept bothering me.
If this were an online game and it said something vague like that instead of giving exact numbers, the actual increase would probably be something pathetic like 0.001%. And if I bought it and still got a normal pet, that would mean throwing away 900 coins for nothing.
No matter how I looked at it, there was no reason to buy the expensive one.
However—
“…I guess I have no choice but to buy it.”
My head understood that buying the expensive one was definitely a loss. But my heart had already tilted in that direction.
These Pet Eggs weren’t sold in the shop. Not the rare ones, and not even the regular ones. That meant I had to either obtain them as drops somewhere or get them as mission rewards like this time.
But the mission that gave me this pet egg was the “Penetrate Your Partner’s Hymen” mission. Would an even harder mission come up in the future? Probably not. Not unless it involved hunting a T-Rex or something.
Everything in this world was uncertain. This rare pet egg might be a commonly dropped item, or it might be an incredibly valuable one that I could only ever obtain once in my lifetime.
And a thousand coins. It seemed expensive at first glance, but it wasn’t actually that hard to earn if I tried. I could make that much in a day if I was quick, or a few days at most.
In that case, wasn’t it better to bet on the pet egg—whose acquisition was uncertain—rather than coins I could definitely earn again?
Even if the rarity increase was only 0.001%, that tiny percentage could still be the difference between a normal pet and a rare one. And if that resulted in a smart pet that could protect Mom even when I wasn’t around—
—then the value of that pet would be impossible to measure in coins.
“…Alright!”
Having made up my mind, I immediately purchased the premium incubator. A flashy effect burst forth, and a shiny golden coffee-pot-shaped device appeared before me.
A thousand coins. It was no small amount. Still, I believed it was worth the investment. It might have been uncharacteristically optimistic of me. But that was fine. I could just earn it back. If I felt guilty about wasting coins, I could always gift Mom three consecutive orgasms as an apology.
-Beep.
I placed the golden egg inside the coffee-pot device and pressed the power button. A familiar notification sound came from the pot.
Ding♪
Hatching of the Rare Pet Egg has begun.
Time remaining until hatching……………… 172 hours. 172 hours remaining.
Hmm. 172 hours. So about a week, then? It said hatching time ranged from 1 to 15 days, and the longer it took, the higher the grade. Did that mean this was just a normal rarity?
That’s a little disappointing. But it’s fine. I can get another egg later. I can earn more coins later too. I’m not bothered at all.
Yeah. I’m not bothered… not bothered…
Haha. Hahahahaha…
I set the incubator down in a corner of the cave and turned around, feeling empty inside. And then—
“—What?!”
I flinched in surprise at the completely unexpected sight before me.
There was Seunghee, blatantly changing her clothes right in front of me.
“Why are you so surprised?”
Seunghee asked, raising the corners of her eyes.
“…If a woman suddenly starts stripping right in front of you, of course you’d be surprised?”
“You’re the one who’s completely naked.”
The clothes Seunghee was changing into were, of course, the bikini I’d given her. And changing into a bikini naturally meant taking off all her underwear too.