Cindy's True Intentions and Reunion at the Sichuan Dang Clan
After finishing their soak in the hot springs, Cindy bought alcohol and food before leading Hwa-ryun and Su-a back to her lodging. As they drank together, she explained the real reason she had invited the two women.
“Sip… Haa~ Just as Hwa-ryun said, the official purpose is my journey through the martial world… but I told them I’d visit each faction and request the dispatch of combat personnel. Using my hospitality as bait.”
“Gulp, gulp… Haa~ Whew… Dispatching combat personnel… Does that mean there’s some kind of major conflict coming?”
“Yes. It’s not confirmed yet… but I was told the Empire and the Federation might have one huge clash soon. The Federation has asked Earth to send troops in preparation, and that request reached the Martial Alliance. So we’re going around to the various sects and clans to ask for military support. Of course… they’re focusing mainly on the factions with male leaders.”
At Cindy’s words, the flush already coloring Hwa-ryun and Su-a’s faces from the alcohol grew even deeper. The statement meant they would offer Cindy’s body in exchange for securing the factions’ military strength, and both women now understood why An Rok-san had spoken to them the way he had.
Above all…
‘…Do I… have to do it too…?’
Though the alcohol had led her to imagine it, Su-a quickly shook her head, denying the thought.
‘No. I’m not even a disciple. I was just invited… Let’s talk about it tomorrow. For now… I just want to rest properly tonight.’
While Su-a sat there blushing with these thoughts, she had no idea what kind of expression Cindy was wearing as she watched her.
‘I’m sorry, Su-a. You probably… didn’t want to play the game this way… But hehe♥ This kind of play felt incredibly good. So… please forgive me for turning you into such a lewd woman.’
The next day, at the Hour of the Horse (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.).
Su-a, Cindy, and Hwa-ryun began their day late after the drinking session the night before. An Rok-san, who had spent the night with the three women, started explaining their first destination.
“Our first stop is the Sichuan Dang Clan.”
“The Dang Clan?!”
Su-a couldn’t help raising her voice. During her time playing Changcheon Murim, one of the factions she had the deepest connection with was the Dang Clan. The thought of reuniting with Dang Ga-ryeo—one of Yoo Kang-hyun’s top conquest targets—and the clan’s matriarch Seo Bong-hwa made her heart race with unconscious excitement. Her face flushed as she tried to regain her composure.
“Ahem. Sorry about that. By the way, Cindy, you told us yesterday it was a martial world tour, but why didn’t you mention the Dang Clan?”
“S-sorry, Su-a. I only learned the destination today myself.”
“Allow me to apologize in her stead. While the martial world tour is the public reason, the military dispatch and material support requests were classified.”
“…What about me… Hwa-ryun… Will I be okay?”
“Don’t worry. We made a Mana Oath yesterday. Besides… I have no intention of breaking the contract I made with my friend Arpa.”
“Sister. You share the same status as an invited guest. But I came here on a mission. Honestly, I don’t know all of my Lord’s thoughts… but since I have a contract with him, I will faithfully follow his orders. He told me that while he carries out his mission on Earth, I should not question anything and simply obey Elder An Rok-san’s commands.”
At Hwa-ryun’s words, both Su-a and Cindy recalled the days when they had chosen different faction alignments and played the game.
‘The complicated entanglements between factions really do resemble Changcheon Murim. Back when I started in the Evil Faction, some of the Righteous Faction were secretly colluding with Evil Faction sects behind the scenes… Even though the Empire and Federation are hostile powers, things like this can still happen…?’
‘Hwa-ryun… Just what kind of contract did she make with Lord Arpa…? I asked her yesterday but she wouldn’t tell me… Does it have something to do with Kang-hyun after all?’
While each of them was lost in complicated thoughts, An Rok-san’s voice snapped them back to attention and they began preparing to move.
“We must reach the Dang Clan by the Hour of the Rooster (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.). Everyone pack your things. We depart in one teacup’s time (15–20 minutes), so get ready.”
“Understood. I’ll get ready right away.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Is there anything else we need to prepare?”
“Just switch your Martial Alliance identity data on your Bio Devices to public mode. That way the checkpoints will let us through automatically later.”
Once preparations were complete, the women and An Rok-san set off for the Dang Clan.
. . . . . . .
Roughly two and a half hours later.
Su-a, Cindy, and Hwa-ryun arrived at the Dang Clan far faster than they had expected. They had assumed they would be traveling by self-driving vehicle or unmanned carriage, so they were astonished when they saw the airship An Rok-san had prepared. Though not quite a spaceship, the vessel soared through the skies without obstruction and brought them to the Dang Clan much quicker than they had anticipated.
“I only ever thought of spaceships when it came to flying vehicles… The interior of the airship was surprisingly clean and styled like the Central Plains, which made it even more fascinating.”
“Exactly. I’ve only ever ridden spaceships before, so this is my first time flying inside a planet’s atmosphere. Hehe.”
“Spaceships are meant for traveling through space, after all. Airships designed for atmospheric flight within a planet’s gravity well have to be built separately… To think I never considered something so obvious… As a game developer, I feel utterly ashamed…”
“It reminds me of the time I turned off pregnancy mode and complained I couldn’t get pregnant… Ahaha…”
They chatted pleasantly until the airship landed at the Dang Clan’s private docking area. The conversation stopped as they began disembarking under An Rok-san’s lead.
Ziiing.
The airship door opened, and familiar faces appeared before Su-a’s group. All three women unconsciously relaxed, warm smiles spreading across their faces.
“Welcome. We welcome you to the Sichuan Dang Clan. I am Dang Baek, Supreme Patriarch of the Dang Clan.”
“It is good to see you, Elder An Rok-san. I am Dang Seo-gun, current Patriarch of the Dang Clan.”
Led by the Poison King Dang Baek, the Patriarch Dang Seo-gun and his family had come out to greet them. Among them, the person who caught the women’s eyes most was a single elegant lady.
“It is a pleasure. I am Seo Bong-hwa, matriarch of the Dang Clan.”
As Dang Seo-gun and Seo Bong-hwa stood side by side offering their greetings, Su-a drifted briefly into memory. Dang Baek, Dang Seo-gun, and Seo Bong-hwa had all dressed in luxurious traditional robes to receive the party. Unlike the other NPCs, the Dang Clan members had perfectly recreated their Changcheon Murim appearances, allowing Su-a to recall Dang Seo-gun and Seo Bong-hwa in vivid detail.
Both Dang Seo-gun and Seo Bong-hwa were in their early forties, yet because this was a virtual reality game rather than reality, they looked far younger than their ages suggested. What surprised Su-a was that while Seo Bong-hwa looked almost unchanged from her memories, Dang Seo-gun’s appearance had been slightly altered. In Changcheon Murim, he had worn a moderate beard and the natural wrinkles of middle age, clearly looking like a middle-aged uncle. Here in Endless Universe, his beard was shorter, his wrinkles reduced, and his features more handsome, causing Su-a to tilt her head in momentary confusion. Of course, he was still unmistakably a middle-aged man.
While Su-a and Cindy had been exchanging playful whispers through their Bio Devices, Hwa-ryun’s mediation finally calmed them down. At the same time, Su-a mulled over Hwa-ryun’s earlier answer.
During the brief commotion, An Rok-san noticed that even while greeting Dang Baek and Dang Seo-gun, the two men could not tear their eyes away from Su-a, Cindy, and Hwa-ryun’s faces. A faint smile touched his lips. Then the hot-tempered and straightforward Dang Baek, true to his personality since Changcheon Murim, boldly asked the question.
“So… Elder An Rok-san, who are the young ladies behind you?”
Even though he was an old man well over a hundred years old, the fact that he made no effort to hide his interest in women made Su-a think that an adult game truly was an adult game. Looking at the Poison King Dang Baek reminded Su-a, Cindy, and Hwa-ryun of the NPC So-chun who had traveled with them during their first playthrough of Changcheon Murim. The extremely lustful So-chun had been a beautiful girl who devoured both men and women alike, and Su-a remembered how her poisonous tongue had once been directed at Dang Baek himself. She found herself briefly lost in those old memories.
‘I wonder if So-chun has been implemented here as well…? Overall, it seems the named male NPCs have all been upgraded… No wonder both Supreme Patriarch Dang Baek and Patriarch Dang Seo-gun feel a bit younger…?’
Realizing that Endless Universe had improved not only the female NPCs but the male ones as well, Su-a thought the game’s marketability far surpassed Changcheon Murim. After all, while Changcheon Murim allowed both men and women to enjoy it equally, the majority of solo players had been male. Still, even with the male NPCs improved, the female NPCs naturally drew more attention.
In particular, the Seo Bong-hwa standing before Su-a looked as if she had only just entered her thirties. Her skin was far too supple and elastic to belong to a woman in her forties, and her beautiful features gave off a naturally warm and comforting impression. She looked exactly as Su-a remembered from their Changcheon Murim days. Although she was a married woman with three children, her figure could rival any maiden’s. The enormous breasts that asserted their presence even through her clothing and her voluptuous, sensual body seemed to radiate allure.
‘It’s been so long, Madam Seo… Hehe~’
Though her heart swelled with joy at the reunion, in Endless Universe this was their first meeting. Su-a kept her emotions hidden and began the formal greetings.
An Rok-san offered a polite fist-and-palm salute to Dang Baek as he introduced himself.
“It is an honor to meet the Poison King. I am An Rok-san, an Elder of the Martial Alliance.”
“I am An Rok-san’s disciple, Cindy Macglen. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t have a title yet. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I am Jung Su-a, S-rank adventurer affiliated with the Pantera Adventurer’s Guild. Please treat me well in the future.”
“Like my sister—I mean, like Miss Jung Su-a, I am Jung Hwa-ryun, an A-rank adventurer from Pantera. It is an honor.”
Hwa-ryun gave her fake identity, and after the party finished their self-introductions, Dang Baek continued.
“Since there are many of us, I have prepared two carriages. If it is acceptable, the Patriarch and I will ride separately with Elder An Rok-san so we may speak. How does that sound to everyone?”
“That is fine with me. Cindy, Su-a, Hwa-ryun, are you all right with this arrangement?”
“Of course. In fact, I was going to ask for exactly that, Master. Hehe~”
And so the women and the men split into separate groups, boarding the carriages and beginning their journey toward the heart of the Sichuan Dang Clan.