Seductive Scents in the Arcade
In the narrow space, that lewd scent...
I'd only introduced him to some decent spots to kill time. He can't just stay cooped up in his room all day; it'd get boring. Yura suggested we head to G Zone. At least there, he could focus on something. She often came here herself when her head got too cluttered. It was originally built for employee welfare, but who cared now? With everyone probably dead up top, every arcade machine here was basically hers. And they were all high-end items to boot. Sell them off, and you'd easily get tens of billions—though such calculations meant nothing anymore. It was just a stark reminder of this place's former wealth.
Cute... Watching Seohan so happy stirred something oddly prickly in her chest. Was it okay for someone to be this defenseless? With a woman right in front of him? But hey, this was something. Any other guy, and she'd have scowled and told him to piss off.
Was it because this kid was special? She'd felt it from the first moment she saw him—he was nothing like typical men. He knew how to be humble and polite. A guy using formal speech? Rare as hell. Normally, they'd spit curses right in your face... If they didn't like something, they'd slap you first—that was men for you. And the hotter they were, the worse it got. Especially those pretty-boy types; not a shred of manners among them. No proper upbringing, that's why.
He was decent... no, practically an angel. Maybe the monster outbreak and all that extreme shit had changed him. She wanted to know more... She craved to learn everything about this man.
Seohan focused on the game. Yura seized the chance to creep closer to his side. She had no idea. There was just this strangely intoxicating scent. Did all men smell like this? If so, it made sense. Why women groveled like bitches in heat, offering tribute. Why they turned into someone else around men. It wasn't just the skewed gender ratio—it was primal desire etched into their genes, instinct. Even with her baseline disdain and loathing for men simmering at the bottom, her animalistic senses crushed it all. The urge to breed...
"Yura?"
"Uh, yeah?"
His low, velvety voice snapped her half-lost mind back. They'd closed in so much their skin nearly brushed. When had that happened? She hadn't realized the distance had shrunk this far. Yura yanked back hastily, creating space, and answered his call awkwardly.
"Wh-what?"
"You've just been watching. Wanna play with me, Yura?"
"N-no, not really... I've already beaten them all."
Play together? Wasn't he way too defenseless? What did he think she might do? Even now, her lower half itched like mad... Did he have zero guard up? That bright smile would lead to bad misunderstandings.
[BEEP BEEP— Administrator, your breathing and heart rate are highly unstable. Adrenaline levels spiking dr—]
Pop! She shut off the chattering drone beside her. Any longer, and it'd blurt something she shouldn't hear, so she silenced it before Seohan could catch it. No need for useless chatter... Like announcing to the world, 'This woman's turned on.' For the first time, she wanted to dismantle the drones.
Anyway, Seohan said playing alone was boring, so she fired up a multiplayer game. An old-school fighting game people used to love. Beating up a guy like this... Was it ethically okay? Could you even hit a man? It was just a game, but... It felt weird. Like she'd done something she shouldn't.
"Um..."
"What?"
"Just curious—why sit so far away?"
"..."
Why so far? How could she sit closer when just being next to him made her forget to breathe? This was the minimum distance to stay sane.
"Can you see the screen? From way over there?"
"Y-yeah, fine..."
This was weird. She'd boldly lured him here first, but... In this tight space. She couldn't calm down. That body scent teasing her nose, the tantalizing outline of his lines from this precarious angle... Hoo... Her eyes locked onto his chest, barely contained, refusing to budge. She shook her head, forcing focus on the game. Had she ever concentrated this hard in her life?
She'd started planning to let him win, but when she came to, she'd swept all five rounds.
"You're good at this."
"R-really? I haven't played much, been busy..."
Damn it, what the hell was this idiot woman doing? Beating a man at games. Lose a few on purpose, sure—but sweeping every single one? Total buzzkill.
Clack. Seohan set down the joystick and stretched. His shirt rode up, exposing taut abs. Whoa... H-hold on, that's too hot. That vague, unseen boundary line drove her insane.
"Must've been lonely playing alone. Stuck in here all the time."
The sudden serious turn made Yura cough awkwardly. Despite her blatant peeks, Seohan seemed oblivious.
"Y-yeah... Pretty much. No people, just cold metal chunks... But you're one to talk."
"Me?"
"You came from outside. Suffered more than me. Nearly died, right? Tough fate. A guy who should've grown up showered in love..."
She truly pitied that part. But Seohan just shrugged it off, grabbing the joystick like he was used to it.
"I've been through so much bullshit it's not even surprising anymore. Grateful just to be alive. Lets me goof off like this."
"..."
"No helping it."
This guy... What was he? Some mutant from another world? Weird way to put it, but... How does a man even think like that? Maybe too steeped in community crap? The men she knew were never like this—always cranky, materialistic, greedy. Violent if things didn't go their way. She'd rarely talked to men herself, but the stories from around were plenty. This didn't match anything she knew. Why'd everyone complain men were so hard to handle? He was sweet and innocent... Feed him, and his eyes sparkled... Hoo... Calm down. Her breathing roughened again.
Why couldn't the world just stay fucked forever? Then she could live with him like this. Just the two under one roof... Hug him from behind. Press skin to skin, bury her nose in his neck, inhale deep. Those impure thoughts kept rising.
The last shred of conscience in Yura's heart. She gripped her sweaty palms tight.
"Bored with nothing to do? Eat and come play here. Don't wander everywhere. There are dangerous zones you don't know about. Better safe."
"Mm... But is it okay just taking like this? I wanna help somehow..."
"What can a man help with? AI handles the hard stuff anyway. Men are meant to thrive in women's shadow."
"..."
Sweet, sure—but those scrawny arms? What could they do? Not getting hurt here was a win. C or L Zones? Actual danger, despite appearances. Without proper management, this place could turn like outside in a blink.
"Ahem..."
No good. She'd figure something out later. Raise security on danger zones, tweak the system. Set simple routes. Track his daily moves, monitor thoroughly.
After three or four hours in G Zone, having blown off some rare stress, I let Yura drag me by the hand to T Zone for a health check. Same as before: scanning my arm's erosion, then precisely erasing wounds with those Nano Regeneration Particles. Stuff that'd normally mean certain death with no cure—gone in under ten minutes, most of the erosion wiped clean.
"Move your arm up and down. Still stinging?"
"No. Not that bad now..."
"Even if it feels healed, check regularly. Monster venom's toxic; rooting it out takes time once it's set."
"Ugh..."
"See? Hurts. Still inside."
Yura, operating the mechanical arm, approached. She knelt and placed her hand on my scarred arm. I stared at her blankly for a moment. Up close, she was pretty... Probably from holing up researching without sun—her skin was pale and creamy. Her soft pink hair, tinged gray under the lights. She padded a thin cloth to keep the wound from reopening.