Synchronization at 32%

It was only my hand brushing her abdomen, yet a lewd moan spilled from Kim Hain's lips.

A sound of a kind I had never once heard from Shin Haneul.

I knew it was performance, and still I found it unbearably erotic.

"Shall I use this oil?"

"Yes. Please put some on my body as well."

Every time a drop of oil fell across her bare skin her body gave a light flinch, and a strange thrill bloomed inside me.

I carefully set my palms on her and began to rub, working the oil into every place I could reach.

The soft, yielding texture that came back through my palms was exquisite.

"Haaang… right there feels good."

She knew her own body perfectly; all I had to do was follow her reactions.

It almost felt as if I myself possessed some remarkable skill.

The longer I massaged her, the higher the rate climbed.

But at this pace it was far too slow.

I decided to go after the key zones.

Her completely bare sex—not a single hair.

Do all the outcall girls shave like this?

"Mmm, go a little gentler there."

With oil-slicked fingers I lightly massaged around her pussy.

The sensation of being touched there must have been different; her moans grew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠louder at once.

I worked the area with my palm, then the back of my hand.

Using the back of my hand, I finally felt a little nub that had been hidden before.

By now I could no longer tell whether what coated my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fingers was oil or her own wetness.

One hand on her breast, the other between her legs, I tormented her like a fish that had found water.

This woman was nothing like Shin Haneul.

Shape, reactions, even the moans—everything was different.

Because Haneul had been my only partner until now, I kept comparing the two of them as I explored every inch of Kim Hain.

The phrase "time flew by" fit perfectly.

"Hnn, you keep going right there… aaang."

"This spot seems to please you."

Whenever I pressed deep into the space between her pussy and her asshole, her hips jerked upward hard.

The violence of the reaction filled me with a strange satisfaction.

I no longer asked whether she was faking.

Sensing the moment had come, I lightly set my fingers against the entrance and began to tease.

She lifted her hips as if begging me to put them in, trying to swallow my fingers, and with the oil and her juices mixed together my fingers slid inside far too easily.

"Hwaaang~ good."

Breathing hard, Kim Hain rubbed my thigh where I sat beside her.

That hand eventually closed lightly around my cock and began to stroke it up and down.

We each had a hand on the other, tormenting one another's sex as if neither wanted to finish first.

The match ended in my defeat.

I could no longer hold back the urge to thrust into any hole—mouth or pussy—right that second.

All that, and still only one percent.

Fine. Let's see how far this goes.

I managed to free my cock from her grip and changed positions.

On my knees I moved down the bed, past her waist, and lifted both of her oil-slicked legs.

Her spread crotch filled my vision completely.

It was already opening and closing on its own, begging to be filled.

"I'm putting it in now."

"Haa, haa… yes… come in."

Already flushed with heat, she panted roughly and wanted me.

I moved closer and set the head of my cock against her entrance.

With a wet little kiss our sexes stuck together.

I rubbed up and down a little, teasing her, then drove in deep on an off-beat.

It was my own signature move from the days with Shin Haneul; apparently the habit had stuck.

"Hnnngh."

Holding both of her ankles, I thrust in and out while watching the rate.

It was astonishing.

The number kept climbing, and the speed was on a completely different level from before.

Every time it rose by 0.1 an inexplicable confidence surged from the base of my spine all the way up to my skull.

Who knew sex could be this much fun.

"Aaang, that position is too…"

I lowered one of the legs I was holding and kept fucking her with only one leg raised.

The so-called scissors position; it didn't suit me, so I decided to change again.

I grabbed her waist and flipped her body over in one motion.

Her pretty ass came into view.

Deeply carved erector muscles. The cleft of her ass opening just enough to bare both her asshole and her juice-smeared pussy.

"Huk, huk… how do you like… this position?"

"Aing, I don't knooow~"

She was in the downward dog… no, the yoga cat pose, I think.

I couldn't see her face, but the way she swayed her hips to tempt me made it clear she didn't dislike the position at all.

I drove my still-proud cock back into her.

"Hnnk… aaa, too, too deep…"

"You like this position that much?"

I pushed as deep as I could go, then slowly drew out.

Obscene wet sounds rose from inside her.

I listened to that sound over and over.

"Aaang, haa… good, harder, harder."

She wanted it stronger, but at that moment I deliberately eased off.

Speed control.

If I kept going like this I was going to finish any second.

I carefully pulled out the cock that had stopped thrusting.

Any more stimulation and I might fire immediately; caution was required.

I still couldn't end it.

I wanted to enjoy this a little longer and push the rate higher.

"Aii, don't tease me."

Kim Hain swayed her hips invitingly.

I had no intention of granting her wish right away.

I simply pressed my cock against her ass and rubbed slowly.

Whenever it slipped and brushed her entrance by accident, watching her hips jump in surprise was pure pleasure.

"I'm going back in now."

"Mm. Good, put it in quick."

I pushed inside and pressed my body flush against hers.

The hand that had been holding her waist moved to her chest.

I scooped up one of the breasts hanging heavy under gravity.

Her hand came over mine and pressed down.

"Hnn… harder, squeeze them harder."

If that was what she wanted, gladly.

I kneaded her breasts roughly while slamming my hips as if I didn't care whether my stamina ran out.

I couldn't hold back even a second longer.

The pleasure that started at the tip of my cock was so intense that holding it any further would have been poison to my body.

The tremor raced up my spine and flooded every inch of me.

"Ugh!"

"Hwaaaaang—!"

I yanked out in a hurry and painted her pale back with a full load.

Only then did the worry hit me that I hadn't worn a condom.

She's an outcall girl, so she probably handles her own birth control…

"Satisfied? I can't even turn over like this, so would you wipe my back for me?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry."

I hurriedly wiped the seed clinging to her back with a towel.

Then I folded the towel and brought it down between her ass cheeks.

"Aaaang~ th-there is fine. I'll clean it myself. Is it okay if I wash in the bathroom?"

"Ah, yes. Go ahead."

She rose from the bed completely naked and headed for the bathroom.

Her body, still gleaming with oil, was pure art.

Even with the post-nut clarity hitting me she still looked beautiful; that said everything.

"Ah, I need to wash too."

I was just as covered in oil from head to toe.

"Huu…"

The information window that had been visible as she walked away had already vanished.

The last number I saw was around 16 percent, wasn't it?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Wanting more detailed information, I followed her straight into the bathroom without thinking.

I truly only meant to check the numbers.

But that was where round two began.

A blaring alarm finally dragged my eyes open.

My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"Fuck, I should've just rested yesterday and called the massage for today."

Today was Friday.

I still had to go to work.

Yesterday's expedition was no excuse at all.

The Awakened got to rest until the Monday meeting, yet only I had to show up.

What kind of unfair world was this?

Still smelling the aroma oil rising from my own skin, I headed for the bathroom.

Once my head cleared a little I replayed everything that had happened last night.

"Ah, she was a masterpiece. A real masterpiece."

At twenty I used to go two or three times a day, but after we started living together it had grown rare lately.

Doing it multiple times again after so long…

And even with a three-hour limit I still managed to fire three loads.

I was honestly impressed with my own stamina.

"I'm not dead yet."

There was one more important thing.

"32 percent for 32 points. That means 100 percent would be 100 points…"

Thanks to the woman named Kim Hain I had learned several things.

Across three rounds the synchronization rate had climbed to 32 percent.

And I had gained points.

With just one point I could turn Kim Hain into an Awakened.

Of course it would be forced, and since she wasn't even a Mana Manifestor, even if she awakened she might end up with so little mana she couldn't do anything.

But I could also spend the remaining 31 points to raise her mana capacity further, or pour them into the section labeled Potential and probably raise the very grade of her magic itself.

Kim Hain would be reborn in an instant as a monstrous Awakened.

Of course I had zero obligation to awaken some random outcall girl I barely knew.

I had done nothing and simply sent her home.

"If she gives me a few more free rounds I might reconsider. Heh heh."

Going to work was still annoying, but the more I thought about it the better my mood became.

Was spring finally arriving in my life too? Hmm~

A little tune started humming out of me on its own.

Kim Isol was a lost cause, but I planned to carefully coax Lee Donggeul and Baek Hwayeon.

If I made them mine, raised them into strong Awakened, and took them around with me, I could finally graduate from being the F-rank rookie team leader.

I couldn't hide the joy welling up inside.

"Today~ I should take a taxi to work~"

Singing some weird song, I headed out.

The world looked completely different from yesterday.

"Hey~ Kang Junghyeok! Something good happen?"

"Haha. Not really."

"Your hand looks fully healed. How was the business trip yesterday?"

"It was good."

"Yeah? I heard this batch of newbies is the worst of the worst… so they actually did decently in real combat?"

"No. They were a mess."

"Then why are you so cheerful?"

"Good question. Haha. Still, there were a few kids who showed potential. I'll raise them properly. Look forward to it."

"You're full of confidence."

I kept chatting with my senior the whole way up in the elevator, then went straight to my desk the moment I reached the office.

The expedition was over, but my work wasn't finished.

I still had to review the recorded combat footage and write up the report.

The report I submitted would decide the next expedition at Monday's meeting.

Whether they sent us straight to E-rank.

Or kept us spinning our wheels in F-rank.

I was torn.

Staying in F-rank forever wasn't a solution.

It would also be a huge loss for the company.

But taking these disasters into an E-rank dungeon felt even more dangerous.

If only I could be sure I could raise their skills before the next expedition…

Would Lee Donggeul and Baek Hwayeon open their hearts to me by then?

I shook my head.

No chance.

But if I wrote the report exactly as things were, we wouldn't see an E-rank for at least a month.

I kept fretting.

My report alone would decide our team's next destination.

If we just had one more person—just one solid replacement for Kim Isol—I could boost Lee Donggeul's mana before then and maybe hold on with healing…

But every other team in the company was already running on skeleton crews, so there was nowhere to poach people from.

That went for Awakened as well as managers like me.

Since I had shut off Kim Isol's mana, maybe I could use that as an excuse to request one more person?

Or maybe I should just flip the magic switch off on some other team's Awakened who had given me shit before?

Then the teams would merge…

Ah, but the team that got dissolved would be the greenest one—ours—and I might have to give up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the team leader seat.

That would be a problem.

"Hm?"

While I had the rookies' clumsy combat footage playing and my mind was completely elsewhere, the office suddenly grew restless.

Raised voices flew back and forth; everyone was frantically making calls.

"Turn on the TV, now!"

Department Head Im, the most senior person currently in the office, shouted.

I was still trying to figure out what was going on when I started hunting for the remote, but another employee beat me to it.

The channel on the wall-mounted TV flipped until it stopped on a station running an emergency bulletin.

Suwon Hwaseong Gate…

That was the regular dungeon our company used whenever an Awakened who had just graduated from F-rank was sent into an E-rank dungeon for the first time.

The exit of that dungeon was exactly that gate.

And the team that had left on Tuesday was supposed to return tomorrow…

"F-rank managers!"

Department Head Im shouted again.

Our company had three F-rank teams.

One was already inside that dungeon; the only ones left were me and the senior I had chatted with that morning.

"Get over there right now, assess the situation yourselves, and report back! Why are you just standing there? Move!"

Both my senior and I answered with blank, half-dazed faces.

Understood.