They Say the Hero Comes from Another World
Ah, is it really impossible to have a wholesome, devoted harem romance?
It was an unattainable dream in a strictly monogamous society. Forget about a devoted harem—I wasn't even managing a normal, one-on-one romance, so yearning for pure love across multiple women was sheer extravagance.
Sure, a man of status could keep mistresses behind closed doors, but an unofficial arrangement carried no meaning. Besides, could a dynamic like that ever sustain genuine affection? More likely, I would just drift through life as expected, marry some suitable partner arranged by my family, and settle into a thoroughly ordinary existence.
As I watched the forest of high-rises glide past the car window, lost in idle musings, we arrived at our destination.
"We have arrived, Director," my secretary announced from the driver's seat.
"Thank you. I have no other engagements today, so please feel free to clock out early."
"Understood, sir. Have a wonderful time with the young lady."
Stepping out of the car, I walked toward the convenience store near Eun-ah's university, where she stood waiting for me. Dark hair, obsidian eyes, her locks pulled back into a high ponytail. But as my gaze drifted lower, my brow twitched. She wore a pink off-the-shoulder blouse paired with a black miniskirt.
An off-the-shoulder top and a miniskirt...?
"Oppa! You're here!"
Catching sight of me, Eun-ah waved brightly.
"Isn't that a little too revealing?" I asked, frowning.
"Come on! Can't a girl dress up nicely when she's going on a date with her brother?"
She was an adult now, so technically her wardrobe was her own business, but this felt excessive. Feigning annoyance, I reached out and flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!"
She gently rubbed her forehead and pouted, glaring up at me in a way that was undeniably adorable.
Our parents had always been consumed by corporate affairs, leaving little time for their children, so the two of us were raised largely in the care of housekeepers. As a result, Eun-ah—five years younger than me—often leaned on me for support, and we grew remarkably close. Finding my little sister cute never felt strange to me; if anything, she was probably the only person in this world I truly trusted.
Sometimes I caught myself wishing she weren't my sister, but a childhood friend instead.
Yet another unattainable dream. Incest was out of the question, and an estranged sister didn't magically turn into a neighborhood sweetheart overnight. She, too, would drift along the expected course of life, and one day she would marry another man.
"Oppa, let's grab some food first," she said, tugging lightly at my sleeve.
Shaking off my stray thoughts, I let her lead the way toward a nearby tteokbokki franchise. But on our way there—
Chime.
Accompanied by a crisp alert, a translucent window materialized before my eyes.
It was as shady a prompt as one could possibly imagine.
Wondering if I was the only one seeing things, I turned to Eun-ah.
"Eun-ah, can you see this?"
"Huh?"
She tilted her head, giving me a baffled look that made it clear the translucent window hovered before my eyes alone.
The words 'another world' arrested my attention. If I crossed over, would a devoted harem romance actually be possible? Could Eun-ah come along? All sorts of wild conjectures rushed through my head.
If I stayed on this path, even if I never felt truly fulfilled, I would eventually inherit the family conglomerate and live a comfortable, prosperous life. Most people lived by settling for 'good enough'—wouldn't that be fine for me, too?
"Oppa? We're hanging out right now, what's on your mind?"
Eun-ah called out to me, but her voice barely registered through the noise in my thoughts.
Even if I went to another world, I would have no connections, no family fortune to fall back on. And considering I never engaged in any athletic training beyond casual gym sessions, I would probably be slaughtered on day one.
Pushing down the urge to press [Accept], I conjured up every rationalization I could muster and selected [Decline].
"Yeah, this is for the best."
"Oppa! What on earth are you talking about?!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Work's been piling up, so I'm a bit out of—"
Before the sentence could fully leave my lips, a spatial tear resembling a portal manifested beneath my feet and swallowed me whole.
"Op... pa...?"
When I opened my eyes, I was somewhere else entirely. Should I be grateful that I hadn't plummeted from the open sky?
I tried to take in my surroundings, but there was hardly anything to inspect—it was a cramped brick chamber about the size of an elevator. There was no furniture, only a sliver of light filtering in through a narrow barred slit too small for a human to pass through, illuminating a solitary woman bound in heavy chains.
Beneath a disheveled pair of blonde buns that looked uncombed for ages, two azure eyes stared at me. Her white cheongsam was frayed and torn to tatters, and her bare skin was streaked with grime and soot as though she hadn't washed in months.
Curiously, there was no foul odor.
"Hero..."
As I stood there staring, the chained woman was the first to speak.
"Are you the Goddess who summoned me? To be frank, your appearance doesn't quite scream 'divine'..."
"..."
The bound woman fell silent for a beat before finally parting her lips.
"I am indeed a Goddess, Hero."
If this was a deity, the road ahead looked utterly bleak. The smartest move was to cut my losses and go home immediately.
"I'm not cut out to be a hero. Please send me back where I came from."
"I may be a Goddess... but I'm not the one who brought you here, Hero..."
What kind of nonsense was that? She was a Goddess, but she didn't summon me?
"Then who dragged me to this place?" I demanded, the absurdity stripping any shred of politeness from my tongue.
"That bitch brought you here."
When I pressed her on who 'that bitch' was, the captive Goddess spilled the whole situation.
"Let me get this straight," I summarized. "A Corrupted Goddess began sexually corrupting the innocent inhabitants of your realm to usurp control. Your people were pure as blank parchment and succumbed easily, so you summoned humans from a sexually liberated world, lent them your divine power, and tried to fight back. But every single otherworldly hero you summoned fell into depravity, your stolen power was funneled to the Corrupted Goddess, and now you're locked up in this dungeon?"
"Yes... that's right..."
She was utterly, hopelessly incompetent.
"If all your power was stripped away, how and why was I summoned?"
"Like I said, Hero, it wasn't me who brought you here—it was that bitch. She said watching a summon struggle, flounder, and succumb to corruption in another world was amusing. She offered me a wager and gave me one last chance. I knew it was a trap, but I couldn't refuse. Please, I beg of you... save my world..."
Tears spilled from her eyes as she pleaded.
"So because of sheer rotten luck, I was dragged to another world just to break my back for your sake?"
"It wasn't bad luck or an accident, Hero. You are here because I chose you."
Chose me? I had zero heroic qualities to speak of. Why me, of all people?
"Why on earth did you pick me?"
"Because you're handsome... No, I mean, that's not it! When torn between desire and reality, you have always chosen reality. You harbored countless wishes and yearnings, yet not once did you act on your own selfish desires. A man who has always suppressed himself to accommodate others... I believed that someone like you could resist every temptation and save my world."
This goddess had a screw loose, too.
"It is time for you to awaken, Hero."
"What are you talking about? I told you, I'm not doing this hero nonsense!"
"Once chosen, you never had the right of refusal anyway."
The moment she said that, my consciousness began to submerge as if sinking deep beneath dark water.
A life lived entirely on others' terms, pushed around by circumstance. Was I supposed to come all the way to a fantasy world just to live like a doormat again?
Like hell I would.
There was no turning back now. Since I was stuck in another world anyway, I was going to pursue my devoted harem romance, grow stronger, shove a middle finger in the faces of both goddess bitches, and live purely by my own rules.
"Oppa... wake up..."
A familiar voice drifted into the dark. Pulled by the warmth of that sound, my drowned consciousness floated back to the surface.
Sniffle, sob.
Eun-ah was crying. But hadn't I been pulled into another world? Was the whole thing just an absurd dream?
The muffled sobs paired with the warmth of sunlight prickled my skin with goosebumps, wrenching my eyes open.
"Eun-ah?!"
I opened my eyes praying it had all been a nightmare, but what greeted me was a tear-stained Eun-ah, the fresh scent of wild grass spanning across an open meadow, the distant lowing of cattle, and an eerie stillness lingering over the breeze.
One thing was certain: this wasn't Seoul.
First, I needed to calm her down.
"Eun-ah, I'm okay. I'm right here."
"B-But no matter how much I called, you wouldn't wake up... sniff... I thought you were dead...! I was so scared..."
When I spread my arms to comfort her, she crashed softly into my chest, clinging to me.
Holding her close until her trembling subsided, a sudden question struck me.
"Eun-ah, how did you end up here?"
"Huh?"
She seemed momentarily flustered.
"Ah, well... after you vanished into thin air, I was frantically looking around for you, and then this arm suddenly reached out from empty space... It grabbed me and yanked me in, and when I woke up, I was here... In this strange place where you wouldn't wake up... sniff... Do you have any idea how terrified I was?!"
Still buried against my chest, she thumped her small fists weakly against my chest. Blows that light, I could take all day.
Something about her explanation felt slightly off, but with the urgency of soothing her tears, the oddity slipped from my mind. Instead, I asked another question.
"Did you see anyone like a Goddess?"
Right as the question left my lips, a voice called out from the distance.
"W-Who's there?!"
Turning toward the sound, I saw a woman in a maid uniform staring at us warily, her expression taut with apprehension.
Beige twin-tails framed her face. For a maid outfit, the neckline dipped scandalously low, and the hem of the skirt was remarkably short. Beads of perspiration dripped down her cleavage, dampening the fabric until it clung translucently to her skin in an unmistakably erotic display.
