Soft Night

We'd been through countless ordeals inside the dungeon today — and yet it was only one in the afternoon. The equipment company employee's grumbling about just sitting down to lunch vanished the instant he laid eyes on our spoils. The sheer shock on his face left me feeling oddly smug.

"What is all this?"

"You'd know better than I would."

"I mean, I know what they are — but why are they coming out of the hands of people who went into Pink Land?"

"Because we killed the things that drop them, obviously."

"Ha… well, I'll be damned."

Did he seriously expect me to explain every last detail? I was already dreading the company report enough as it was.

It wasn't simply that we'd hunted C-rank dungeon monsters that had him so stunned. What really floored him was the sheer volume of the haul — thirty-three stingray barbs and sixty curved swords. Pulling that much in a single morning would have been impossible even for a major corporation's top-performing F-team. Between yesterday's beards and this, people were already going on about what kind of magic we must have pulled off.

In any case, we left the stingray barbs and curved swords with the company, returned the rental gear, and called headquarters right away. We still hadn't reported yesterday's events either, so there was a great deal to cover.

"Why would I lie about something like this?"

"Of course not. It's only been two days."

"One more thing, Deputy Manager."

"We probably won't be able to enter a dungeon tomorrow."

"It'll be on the news soon… or maybe it won't. Either way — this is a Double Gate dungeon. Same kind as the Suwon Hwaseong Gate or the Cheonjidong Gate."

"The spoils matter more, don't they? From the company's perspective… We're all safe, so please don't worry."

Fair enough — it was an absurd story. A team barely a month into their debut casually hunting C-rank dungeon monsters, then securing sixty curved swords as loot? It would have been stranger if he hadn't been shocked.

Still, I felt drained. Whether it was from using mana for the first time that morning or from burning through too much of my ability's energy, I couldn't say. Or maybe it was the feeling of having hundreds of millions of won in spoils snatched away by the company the moment we acquired them…

I needed something delicious to eat and a proper rest. Something truly, thoroughly delicious.

Everything ached.

Even after sleeping so deeply, I felt like this — was borrowing mana with an ordinary body really that hard on a person?

Outside the window, it was already dark. My body was stiff, but I must have slept straight through without waking once. I'd dozed off after lunch, and now it was past ten at night.

I checked my phone. Messages and missed calls everywhere — one from the company, the rest from unknown numbers. Given the hour, I messaged the Deputy Manager first.

His reply came faster than expected, and once I read it, I understood why.

"The government wants me? Why?"

Apparently the government had tried to reach me, gotten no answer, and called the company instead. So why not just contact our Awoken and have them wake me? Scrolling back through the earlier messages gave me the answer.

"What good kids."

The government was looking for me over the Double Gate situation, and my teammates had already taken the calls and answered for me. They'd told them I was resting properly and not to wake me?

That kind of consideration — not bad at all.

The Deputy Manager must have been fretting, because he called me immediately.

"Yes, Deputy Manager."

"You already know. I nearly died this morning and passed out. So what does the government want?"

"Where?"

"You want me to go back? Into that dungeon?"

"Is there something we need to hide?"

Personally, I had plenty to hide.

"I'll manage that on my own. No need to worry."

"The company?"

"Ah… yes…"

Fuck. I'd thought they might at least let us rest a little.

If you added up everything we'd brought back…

Ah, forget it. People say working hard only benefits the company — turns out that was exactly right. I felt completely ripped off.

Now I was intensely curious what the kids had told the government when those calls came in. After some thought about who to summon, I decided to hear the full story and called the entire team downstairs. They could watch me eat, for all I cared.

"You spoke with the government?"

"Yes, Hyung-nim. The call came to me."

"Ah, is that so?"

What. I'd been ready to dote on someone, and it was Jang Yong.

Damn it.

I kept eating alone while I listened to his account.

"They asked a few things. Wanted to know if we'd identified the location of the new gate, so I said we hadn't. Told them we ran into the gnolls by chance after hunting the Sky Blowfish."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"They asked how a bunch of rookies made it out alive. I said we got lucky."

"Well done."

He hadn't spilled my secrets. That was a relief — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but the problem was that the lies wouldn't hold for long. The spoils we'd left with the equipment company would be exposed soon enough, and a management office official had seen everything with his own eyes. Those hyena corpses would still be lying there, along with thousands of dead stingrays scattered across the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ground.

"I've got something to say too."

"Hm? Don't tell me they called you as well, Isol?"

"No. They came in person."

"What?"

"Some government type showed up at our lodging late in the afternoon and ran into me. Wanted me to come with them. I refused, and that was the end of it."

"Ah… good. Well done. I've already arranged to go see them tomorrow morning with the company."

"Hmph. So what were you doing alone in your room until this hour?"

"What do you think? I finally got some real sleep."

"Is that really all? You weren't training by yourself or anything?"

I just smiled. I didn't have much to say — and honestly, being misunderstood for simply sleeping was amusing enough. I remembered some drama protagonist who got the same treatment: did nothing special, yet everyone around him assumed he was incredible.

Did I really look impressive enough to become that kind of person?

"Ah, this is delicious. Here."

Even the food tasted better for no good reason.

Anyway — once I finished eating, what then? I'd slept so much I probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. I'd been planning to call Kim Isol to my room tonight… but was she the right choice?

Lee Donggeul still had the highest Synchronization Rate. But if I left that one out, she'd sulk — so maybe I had no choice?

"Alright, head upstairs. Isol, stay."

Every gaze turned toward Kim Isol. She smiled with a look that said she'd known her turn was coming. Jang Yong seemed to have something he wanted to say to me, but in the end he went up without a word.

Kim Isol was left alone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with me, and before heading to the room I thought we might as well have a drink.

"Do you like alcohol, Isol?"

"Alcohol?"

"Yeah. Never tried it?"

"Of course I have. It's just booze."

"Then how about a drink? I feel like it's been forever since I had one. I'm craving it."

"…Fine."

The answer came a beat late, but I could feel her working not to refuse me. Maybe I should get her a little tipsy. I wanted to hear what was going on inside her head.

I'd decided to change tactics. The Synchronization Rate with these kids was climbing slower than expected. If I had to name the differences between them and Senior An Sora, a few stood out — less sexual experience, for one, and the fact that they still weren't showing me their true natures completely. I'd brought up trauma half as a joke before, but I was starting to feel like I needed to understand whatever they were carrying inside. The fact that I'd hit one hundred percent with Senior An Sora the day we watched the Cheonjidong incident coverage suggested a connection. Maybe mental intimacy mattered just as much as the physical kind.

I didn't know any bars in Daejeon, so the drink of choice was convenience-store soju. Beer would probably just make her piss herself again. And even with soju, I'd have to keep it to a pleasant buzz — a full blackout would be a headache.

We reached the room. I poured soju into paper cups and we started drinking. It didn't take long for her to get drunk. With her mana shut off, being an Awoken didn't matter one bit.

"Isol."

"Whaaat…"

Her eyes were already half-glazed. Two people, one bottle of soju. We hadn't even drunk that much, and she was already like this.

"Why are you so obsessed with getting stronger?"

"You wouldn't unnerstand… who doesn't wanna get stronger…"

I needed a different question. That one always got the same answer.

Still — the Kim Isol I knew, wrecked by a few shots of soju? I should have gotten her drunk ages ago.

"Do you like me?"

"Nuh-uh. I hate you."

"Why?"

"Cuz you always pick on me…"

The slurred speech I'd initially found cute was starting to grate. I hadn't expected her to come on to me aggressively or anything, but this was a bit much.

"You're a bad man… you…"

"I'm sorry."

"Iss okay… I'll make it better for you…"

Kim Isol suddenly stood up from her chair and toppled onto me. She fumbled over my face with her hands, then started planting kisses all over my nose with those bright red lips. I turned her face and claimed her mouth instead.

The plan had failed. Might as well just enjoy myself. Whatever she kept locked inside clearly wasn't coming out with alcohol alone.

Having her paw at me while drunk wasn't doing it for me, so I threw her onto the bed. Then I tore her clothes off one piece at a time, rough enough to nearly rip them.

Had her expression always been this sexy? Flushed red from the alcohol, eyes hazy and unfocused, she reached a hand toward me.

"Hold me…"

What the hell…

A shiver ran through my chest. Kim Isol wanting me first… Don't go showing a man a face like that so freely, you idiot. I'll fall for it.

I gave her what she asked for. I wasn't burning hot enough to pounce just yet — she simply looked so lovely asking for my arms that I wanted to hold her tight.

We pulled each other close on the bed. Her soft skin pressed against mine. Her breathing, deeper than usual from the drink, tickled against my ear. The hands wrapped around my back rubbed slowly along my body.

"You remember this… that feeling of suddenly getting stronger…"

Sexy one moment, adorable the next, then almost childlike. The contrast with the usual sharp-tongued Kim Isol was so extreme I almost wanted to check whether this was really her. She nestled into my arms and rubbed against me. She must have wanted to feel that rush of rising mana again.

I held her close and patted her back. Stroked her hair gently. Moments like this weren't so bad every once in a while.

Mm… she smelled nice.

"Hm?"

She'd gone quiet all of a sudden. Don't tell me… anything but that—

"Hey…"

"Yes."

Whew. She hadn't fallen asleep. But that way of talking had killed my libido on the spot.

"Iss okay…"

"Go ahead."

"Do that thing for me again…"

"What thing?"

"That thing… the dirty thing… I wanna get stronger…"

What was I supposed to do with this? Was it even right to do this to her in this state?

But before my hesitation could mean anything, she reached out first.

"This… put this inside me…"

She started massaging my cock through my pants. Ah, to hell with it. Even her clumsy touch was enough to get my shaft standing at attention. Once it was up, the decision was already made. Raising the Synchronization Rate to one hundred percent was the goal either way.

I lifted her easily, laid her back on the bed, and stripped off the underwear I'd left half-on earlier in one motion. Even after my cock had pushed through that red cleft any number of times, it still looked as pristine as the first day.

"Still beautiful. Not that I expect you to remember I said that tomorrow."

"Dummy…"

I leaned in again and pressed my mouth to Kim Isol's bright red lips.