Shared Mission (3)
I succeeded, but Seunghee failed. Yet the coins only went to her. This damn system really was twisted. Was it trying to pit partners against each other?
『Due to the male partner's mission success, the female partner has been awarded 100 coins.』
『Due to the female partner's mission failure, the male partner has received no reward.』
『No additional rewards were obtained.』
“Ugh……”
Seunghee let out a frustrated groan. As if she had any right to feel wronged. I was the one who should be pissed off.
『The additional reward would have been 100 coins each along with a couple’s underwear set that enhances stamina. Better luck next time.』
“Who needs that crap!”
Seunghee had been even pricklier ever since I got that quiz question right. Her sharp tongue had only grown sharper.
“I could’ve used it, though.”
“Ughhh……!”
She glared at me with open resentment. But even when she tried to act tough, she just looked like an angry little kitten hissing. It was honestly adorable.
That bonus item was stamina-enhancing underwear, huh? She said she didn’t need it, but it might’ve actually been pretty important. Better stamina meant more chances to earn coins. Plus, with the semen concentration bonus, even the same number of rounds could’ve netted us extra coins.
……What a waste.
Well, there was no point dwelling on a failed mission. What’s done is done. I’d just have to move on. My stamina was already overflowing without any items anyway. If it ever ran low, I could just work harder. We could succeed on the next mission. And since Seunghee seemed willing now, I had a strong feeling we’d pull it off next time.
“Alright then.”
After sorting my thoughts, I got up from the bed. The moment I moved, Seunghee—who had been curled up like a snail under the blanket—flinched hard.
What was she so nervous about? It’s not like I was going to eat her.
“I’m gonna shower and get some sleep. What about you, Seunghee?”
“……What do you mean, what about me?”
She snapped back at me, still full of wariness in her eyes. ……That kind of reaction just made me want to tease her even more.
“Want to shower together?”
“Are you insane?!”
This time, the bikini panties came flying at me right after the bra.
“Oh?”
I caught them mid-air. These were the panties she’d been wearing just moments ago. I deliberately unfolded them and peered at the inside.
“Hm? There’s a stain in here.”
“Kyaa! You pervert! Kyaaak!”
“Shh. You’ll wake Mom.”
Seunghee, wrapped up in the blanket like a burrito, lunged at me and snatched the panties back. There was a bit of commotion, but thankfully Mom didn’t wake up.
“Ugh…… pervert……”
“You hungry? Stomach okay?”
“……I’m not hungry.”
She answered while huffing in full defensive mode.
“It’s a bit much to cook right now, so if you get hungry, just buy some bread with coins and eat that.”
“……I’ll take care of myself.”
“Suit yourself. I’m gonna wash up. Call me if you need anything.”
“…………Okay.”
Her voice sounded a little down again, and it bothered me. ……Whatever. She could handle herself. I wasn’t her babysitter.
I left Seunghee behind and headed for the shower room. I washed away the traces of the day under cold water. The faint smell of blood and gunpowder still clung to my body. It brought back the exact moment when Seungpil and that father-daughter pair had died.
“Ugh……”
Nausea surged up. The image of Seungpil dying, the sight of that girl’s head exploding—it all flashed vividly before my eyes. But those disgusting memories didn’t linger for long. The lingering scent of Mom on my body quickly covered up the stench of death. The vile recollections transformed into the memory of making love with her.
“……Haa.”
I steadied my wavering mind. I was still alive. So was Mom. There was still a way to save Seungpil. I hadn’t lost anything.
“It’s fine.”
I kept reassuring myself. If I could save everyone and get out of here alive, I would win.
*
After finishing my shower, I stepped out. The cave was still pitch black, and only Mom’s quiet breathing could be heard in the darkness.
“Is Seunghee asleep?”
“……”
No answer. She didn’t seem to be sleeping, though. Well, maybe she just didn’t feel like talking. I pretended not to notice and returned to the bed where Mom was sleeping.
“Mmm……”
I climbed onto the bed carefully. Mom stirred slightly but didn’t wake. I quietly lay down beside her sleeping form.
“……”
It felt strange. Lying side by side in the bed where Mom slept. And under this very blanket, she was completely naked.
……Was I dreaming right now? Maybe all of this was just my delusion. The insane fantasy of a man who had gone mad from tedious military life. A vague anxiety suddenly rose within me.
I reached out and searched for Mom’s warmth, like a mayfly chasing heat to survive. My fingers found her hand, and I gently took it.
……It was warm. It was Mom. That warmth, that softness. It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a delusion. Mom was real. The dreamlike time I had spent with her earlier had all been reality. The faint scent of my body still lingering on her skin proved it.
I had truly become one with Mom.
Her warmth flowed into me through her hand. Even my cold fingers grew warm again. The vague anxiety that had been rising vanished in an instant.
“……”
……Once the anxiety disappeared, lust came rushing in. I wanted to feel Mom’s softness and warmth again.
The wall between stepmother and stepson. The wall that had seemed impossible to break had crumbled with just one push, and now it posed no obstacle at all. Through that crack, my desire poured in without restraint.
……But I couldn’t. I firmly pressed down on my cock, which was trying to get hard again. I wanted to be an equal adult to Mom. I wanted to be a man worthy of her. I wanted us to love each other mutually. It couldn’t become a one-sided relationship where I demanded and she simply accepted. That would just be an extension of our previous pseudo mother-son relationship.
To change this relationship, I had to change first.
“……Haa.”
Then how was I supposed to deal with this surging lust? The feminine scent coming from Mom was driving my reason to the brink of collapse. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave this happy space. It looked like I’d be tossing and turning in bed for a while.
“……Ugh.”
A small sound suddenly caught my ear. It was probably a sound she had desperately tried to hold back, one that had barely slipped out with her breath. But it couldn’t escape my sharpened senses.
“Hic…… sniff……”
This time it was clearer. Once the suppressed crying burst out, it seemed impossible to stop. The source was obvious. There was only one other person in this space besides me and Mom.
Han Seunghee. She was probably crying alone.
“Eut…… ugh……”
Even a guy like me felt overwhelmed by the situation, so it was no wonder a girl who had grown up like a delicate greenhouse flower couldn’t handle it. Especially after watching her only protector—her brother—die right in front of her. Lying alone in an empty bed, those memories would come flooding back whether she wanted them to or not.
“……M-Mom…… eut……”
Her fragile voice was thick with tears. She was trying to muffle it so no one else would hear. But to my ears, it sounded like a plea for someone to notice.
……Haa. Guess I have no choice.
“Seunghee. Can’t sleep?”
“…………No. Sniff.”
Her voice was nasal. She wasn’t even trying to hide that she was crying anymore. Not that she could’ve hidden it anyway.
I let out a light sigh and got up from the bed. Perfect timing, actually. I was reaching my limit holding back my lust anyway.
“D-Don’t come over.”
As I approached, Seunghee—still buried under the blanket—scurried to the corner of the bed. I chuckled and climbed onto the bed.
“There’s nowhere to run. It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”
“Ugh…… sniff.”
In the darkness, I could see her pale face glaring at me with a tear-streaked pout. She looked exactly like a kitten crying for its mother while baring its tiny teeth at the person trying to help.
I pulled her toward me along with the blanket so I could lay her down beside me.
“Ah!”
Seunghee struggled as if trying to resist, but the strength from that small body was nothing. She quickly collapsed onto the bed and curled up in my arms.
“It’s okay.”
I hugged her tightly through the blanket and stroked her head. I wasn’t good at finding the right words to comfort a crying woman. If it were up to my body, I could comfort her in other ways, but……
“It’s okay. Everything will work out.”
“Ugh…… eut……”
Work out? Yeah, right. Even I knew how irresponsible that sounded. But maybe those empty words reached her heart. The little kitten that had been showing her teeth earlier was now burrowing into my chest, seeking comfort. Of course, she was still wrapped up in the blanket like a cocoon.
“Hic…… ugh……”
Seunghee cried silently in my arms for a long time.
“There, there. It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
In the meantime, I patted her back over the blanket or stroked her hair, offering what barely counted as comfort. How much time passed like that? Whether she had cried herself out or simply grown tired of my lame attempts at soothing, her sobbing eventually faded away.
……Did she fall asleep?
Hmm. Nothing I could do about it. I should get some sleep too. It was still a bit early, but both my body and mind were exhausted. Today had been filled with far too many firsts. The first time experiencing a life-or-death fight. Watching an acquaintance die right before my eyes. Sharing my body with Mom for the first time. It was a day packed with events I might never experience again in my entire life.
I wanted to close my eyes and refresh my mind. But the adrenaline that had exploded earlier refused to settle easily. Even if I tried to force myself to sleep, I’d probably just toss and turn for a long time.
“……Um.”
“Hm?”
As I lay there blankly, a voice came from against my chest. Seunghee’s tone had grown considerably calmer.
“My dream…… was to live an ordinary life like my friends.”
“Huh…… huh?”
Out of nowhere, she started giving me her life story. Hmm…… I had no idea where this was going, so I just played along.
“I wanted to go to school like a normal person, date a normal boyfriend……”
“Yeah, yeah. That makes sense.”
“Then graduate normally, get married, have kids. I just wanted to live an ordinary life. I didn’t want anything more than to not be sick.”
“I see.”
“I never asked for any of this…… weird, movie-like stuff……”
“Of course not.”
“Honestly, I still don’t understand. Why did this have to happen to me? What I’m supposed to do from now on……”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“……Are you even listening to me properly?”
“Of course I—yeah. I’m listening, I swear.”
“……Tch.”
Huh? Did she just laugh? Hmm. I didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like my mission to comfort a crying girl had been a success.
“……Um.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you…… being so nice to me?”
“Huh?”
Had I been nice to her? I felt like I’d teased her more than anything. Well…… I guess I had been somewhat nice. Of course I had. Even when I was scolding her, it was out of affection.
“Uhh~ because you’re Seungpil’s little sister?”
“……If that’s the reason, then stop being nice.”
“Huh? So you’d rather I bully you? Don’t tell me you’re into that?”
“Hey! That’s not what I meant!”
Seunghee’s fist thumped against my chest in protest. Wait, what was this? The way she was acting almost seemed like she was flirting with a guy she was interested in. Her voice had grown much brighter too.
“Ah……”
Our eyes met again. Her already flushed face turned even redder. Those tear-reddened eyes held shy, fresh emotions. I wasn’t stupid enough to miss what they meant.
“U-Um, uh……”
Seunghee stammered, flustered and trying to say something. I silenced her lips with a kiss. She closed her eyes and accepted it.