Beyond the Limit
"Nngh... Hnnngh—!!"
The instant I spent the points to develop her potential, Kim Isol let out a strange nasal moan and crushed me against her in a hug so fierce it felt like she meant to snap my neck.
I flinched hard.
I'd already restored her mana. Whether she meant it or not, if she turned her full strength on me now, even with the shield I had no idea how long I'd last.
Thank god it was just a misunderstanding.
"Hah... hah... hah... haah..."
Kim Isol clung to me, gasping for air. Her heartbeat hammered so hard and fast I could almost hear it against my ear. Heat flooded her entire body; in seconds she was drenched in sweat.
The sensation of breaking past the limit of her own mana. What must that feel like?
Probably something close to what the Academy's Mana Manifestors experience when they awaken.
A feeling someone like me, born with zero mana, would never know in a lifetime.
Either way, her mana had just climbed to E-1.
"Kim Isol-ssi. Are you all right?"
"Haah... haah... I-I can't... I can't hold it anymore..."
The moment I asked if she was okay, she suddenly pressed her face to my ear and whimpered. I couldn't make sense of what she meant.
Hold what?
Was she actually orgasming from the massage I was giving her?
I carefully pulled my hand away from her pussy. I'd already given her everything I was going to give.
Same method I'd used on Baek Hwayeon. When the sensation of being massaged and the surge of power hit at the same time, the stronger her desire to grow, the more she'd never forget this feeling.
The second my fingers left her, though, something warm flooded my lower body.
It wasn't her body heat.
A thick stream poured out, then another, and another...
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Hyaah... nnngh... I-I can't hold it..."
I hurriedly slid my arms under her armpits, hauled her up, and held her. She was pissing all over my crotch—what the hell?
Even after I lifted her, the stream refused to stop. She seemed desperate to cut it off herself; both hands flew down to cover her sex. Still the urine kept leaking out in little spurts.
"Ah... seriously... what are you doing? You're not a kid—why are you pissing yourself!"
"Hic... sniff... I told you I couldn't hold it..."
"Fine, just clean it up already. Ah..."
I grabbed a towel, soaked up the mess, and yanked the blanket off the floor. Silk, luckily—nothing had soaked through to the sheets.
Had they put this blanket here expecting something like this?
I rolled the ruined blanket into a ball, dumped it on the table, and sent Kim Isol to the bathroom. Then I followed right after her.
No choice. That bitch had peed all over me while she was on top of me; I'd gotten hit too. Anyone walking in would think I'd been the one who wet myself.
I'd sweated buckets as well, so I ended up taking a whole new shower.
Kim Isol and I didn't exchange a single word the entire time we washed. Naked, alone together in the bathroom. The longer it went on, the more awkward it got.
She spoke first.
"Hey..."
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Thanks..."
I'd expected an apology for the pissing. Instead gratitude came out first.
Her mana had skyrocketed compared to before, so of course she should be grateful. Something that hadn't budged through three years at the Academy had changed overnight because of me—she could get on her knees and suck me off for it if she wanted.
Kim Isol was the one whose power had risen, yet somehow I was the one feeling smug.
Still, how much stronger had she actually become?
I wanted to dive into a dungeon right this second and test the difference between F and E myself. If I felt that way, how much worse must it be for her?
And yet Jang Yong had been walking around with E-class mana from the start—the same level that made Kim Isol piss herself in pure ecstasy. What the hell was that guy's deal?
He wasn't even some elite. With that kind of mana, why had he been dead last at the Academy, and why had he ended up at our company?
Something about him felt off.
Department Head Im's earlier request to "raise him properly" floated back into my mind. Son of the company president? Some acquaintance?
"I'm done washing. I'm heading out."
What?
While I'd been thinking, Kim Isol had already stepped out of the bathroom.
She was just going to leave like that?
One word of thanks and that was it?
"Kim Isol-ssi."
"Yeah?"
"Wash my body for me."
"What?"
"At least do that much. I held back and did things I didn't want to do either."
"......"
"Ah, forget it. Just leave quietly."
Figures.
What did I expect from her? Selfish bitch. The second she got what she wanted, the cold shoulder came out.
Tch—ptooey!
Then the bathroom door opened again.
I turned my head, wondering what it was.
Kim Isol stood in the doorway holding a towel. Still completely naked.
I slept in for the first time in ages.
When was the last time I'd slept this deeply? So long ago I couldn't even remember.
The sun was already high. Past noon.
Half a day of precious free time had vanished while I was out cold.
I washed up roughly and headed back to my own room to pack. I'd spent the night in Kim Isol's room, after all. Mine had probably started to smell.
The lodging was booked through Friday, but I planned to head back to Seoul today. The moment I had free time, too many people suddenly wanted to meet me—it was becoming a problem.
"I'll head back to my room now."
"Mm..."
Kim Isol had gotten up around the same time. She was acting like a completely different person. When I told her my room probably stank and I wanted to sleep in hers, she'd agreed without a fuss.
Kim Isol, of all people.
We hadn't done anything else, but we'd shared a bed.
Anyway, I returned to my room, packed, and stepped outside the lodging.
Two women who'd been looking for me all morning immediately approached.
"Team Leader. Where were you this morning? We couldn't find you. You weren't answering either..."
"I overslept. Sorry."
"Ah... it's fine. But, um, today's my turn, right?"
Lee Donggeul used both arms to push her chest together as she spoke. Wherever she'd learned that move, it didn't suit her at all and wasn't even sexy. Though those breasts of hers were always...
Ahem.
"Um... Team Leader... me too... I reserved..."
"Hwayeon-ssi, it's only been two days for you."
"It's all right. I'd still like to reserve..."
Even timid Baek Hwayeon was desperate for time with me.
Kang Junghyeok, the man. At twenty-two, it suddenly felt like I'd become popular overnight.
If only it weren't because of the mana. That part was a real shame.
"Hyung-nim! It's me! It's my turn now, right?!"
Ah. I'd forgotten one.
That guy was still here. I hadn't prepared a single response for him. My head started throbbing the moment I woke up.
"First of all, I'm heading back to Seoul today. We'll set appointments later. As for the rest of you—the lodging is booked through Friday, so use it freely."
Sure enough.
The second I said I was going to Seoul, every single one of them announced they were coming with me. Meet today, meet tomorrow—they were going crazy. These people, seriously.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a busy man. Have you all forgotten you're heading into an E-rank dungeon next? You need to prepare properly. It's a completely different dimension from F-rank. Completely different."
"But... doesn't that mean we need to get even stronger?"
"Getting stronger is good. But aren't you all thinking about getting stronger too easily? Don't you have other things you should be doing? Study the main monsters of E-rank dungeons, research the kinds of dungeons we might enter!"
"Yeees..."
I brushed them off and escaped. Kim Isol and I finished lunch together. The others must have already eaten; they were drinking tea at the next table.
Up to that point Kim Isol hadn't said a single word to me or the rest of the team. Her eyes, though, burned with intensity, like she wanted to cut down a monster right that second.
She'd finally gotten stronger, yet there was nothing to use that power on until the next expedition. She looked thoroughly dissatisfied.
What could I do? She could go climb a mountain or hit an Awoken-only gym and work it out herself.
After the meal the team scrambled to gather their bags. In the end we all rode the same train back to Seoul and then scattered.
One sly bastard stuck to my tail, though. I had no choice but to take him into a café.
Fuck...
Alone in a café with a guy.
"Thank you, hyung-nim. I want to get stronger too. No matter how many times I ask Baek Hwayeon-ssi or Lee Donggeul-ssi, all they say is it's thanks to you, Team Leader."
"Hmm..."
"Hyung-nim. I'll do anything, so please just give me a hint."
"Hmm..."
I sat across from the chattering Jang Yong and racked my brain for a way to refuse without hurting his feelings.
I knew plenty of ways to refuse that would piss him off, but after strengthening every other teammate, I couldn't just flat-out reject Jang Yong alone. If only this position had been filled by a woman.
Awoken who could tank were as scarce as healers; from the company's perspective, Jang Yong wasn't someone they could easily cut. Plus there was Department Head Im's suspicious request.
Ah. Maybe I should just ask about that.
"Jang Yong-ssi. Mind if I speak more casually? Your name's a bit hard to say."
"Ah, yes. I'll call you hyung-nim comfortably too."
"Good. Yong-ah, hyung has something to ask."
"Yes, hyung-nim."
"You have any connection to our company? Relatives or family working there?"
"No. None at all. I didn't even know this company existed until right before I signed the contract."
"Really? Then why did Department Head Im..."
That wasn't the only thing I needed to ask.
His actual skill. How someone with E-rank mana had ended up dead last.
"My mana?"
"Yeah. Seems like you've got the highest among our team."
"Hyung-nim, is that true? Wow... I always felt like I was the one falling behind. Thank you for the compliment."
Jang Yong stood up and bowed politely. He didn't even seem to know his own mana level.
How was that possible?
I kept asking questions—how he'd trained at the Academy, what daily life had been like. The more I listened, the fishier it got.
"So you're saying you took first place in the mock sparring?"
"Yes. But it was an F-class class. It would've been different in a higher class."
"Still, that means you were first among the people who participated, right?"
"Haha... The evaluation wasn't good, though. The instructors just scolded me for fighting too aggressively as a tanker."
"You cause some kind of incident at the Academy? Sneak into the girls' dorm or something?"
"What? No. I would never do something that shameless..."
"Then why did the teachers treat you like that? Didn't you say you can handle every kind of weapon?"
"Yes. But the aptitude test said I was best suited as a tanker."
"They can tell that from a test?"
"I don't really know either..."
Something felt rotten behind all of this.
Even if it was F-class, why force the mock-sparring champion into the tanker role?
Looking at Jang Yong's current status window, his only skill was Aura Blade—the exact same one Kim Isol had. Not a defense skill. Not a taunt skill.
From what I knew, tankers basically received shield or defense-related skills the moment they awakened.
Which meant Jang Yong might not actually be a tanker at all.
A guy who claimed he could handle every weapon and took first in mock sparring—why?
Was there a reason the Academy had deliberately shoved someone like him to the bottom?
It also felt like they'd deliberately lied about the mana he possessed...
"Hey. You didn't sexually harass the Academy chairman's daughter or something, did you?"
"I told you no, hyung-nim. I'm not that kind of trash."
"Then maybe you mouthed off to some big shot?"
"I'm not the type who acts one way to your face and another behind your back. You've seen my personality on the expeditions. Do I look like that kind of weirdo to you, hyung-nim?"
"Hmm... Fair enough, you're not. All right... then what's your family like?"
"My family?"
"Yeah. Sorry to ask, but is there some problem at home? An older brother jealous of you, eyeing the family fortune, making your life hell?"
"Hyung-nim. Have you been watching too many dramas? I only have one older sister."
"Then are you ridiculously poor?"
"My sister's an Awoken, so she makes good money. My parents are still working too."
"Really? Where's your sister contracted? Is she maybe at our company?"
"No. I already told you we don't have a single family member or relative at our company. And my sister..."
What?
I heard something genuinely surprising about Jang Yong's sister.
Looks like kicking Jang Yong out would have to wait a little longer.
I suddenly really wanted to meet that sister of his.