While He Slept
"He's late…."
Seong Sua sat in the middle of Animal Village, gazing endlessly up at the stars scattered across the sky as she waited for Sung Suho.
A few days earlier, a sudden incident had left her rattled, but she had pulled herself together and managed to keep her composure. Holding on to that calm let her revisit, one by one, the feelings she had been carrying.
Sung Suho, who had saved her. Herself, searching desperately for him after he vanished. The sight of Cho Seohyun and Sung Suho together that she had stumbled upon by chance. And the unnameable emotion that had taken root inside her because of it.
Seong Sua turned it over carefully in her mind. What if the woman with Sung Suho that day hadn't been Cho Seohyun at all — what if it had been someone else?
But before the scene could fully form in her head, Sung Suho logged into Animal Village first.
"Hello."
"Ah! You're here."
Seong Sua brightened at the sight of Sung Suho's child avatar, shook off her wandering thoughts, and settled in to enjoy the game with him.
And today, Sung Suho suggested taking things in a new direction.
"How about we upgrade the house to the next stage?"
A house expansion. Decorating the village was part of the fun, sure — but the real endgame of this title was building out your own home into something impressive. Even a slow-life game was better lived in a villa than a ramshackle hut.
The expansion system worked simply enough: pay off your current debt in full, and the game automatically built the next-tier house — along with a fresh loan to match. Seong Sua figured a clean, proper house beat a shabby one any day, and she agreed.
"We've been playing a while now. Raising it up sounds good."
"Then today we catch as many fish and bugs as we can and sell them."
And so their wholesale poaching spree began.
..
..
Expanding the house didn't take long. They had already paid down a decent chunk of the loan, so the two of them finished the first upgrade before bedtime. The moment it completed, sleep hour rolled around. Leaving the interior as it was, they climbed into the same bed and settled in for the night.
It felt completely natural by now.
"Zzz…."
"…."
Seong Sua wrapped her arms around the sleeping Sung Suho and stroked his hair. Somewhere along the way, the two of them had crossed the line from mere colleagues into something more. She knew it. She was fully aware of what she felt.
Holding him, she let her mind drift back to what had happened before.
He was so cool that day….
The attraction she felt toward the man who had saved her from danger had exploded from that moment on. She had already been drawn to him as a man before then — but nothing like this. And the thing that had pushed her feelings past their limit was Cho Seohyun.
Seong Sua had spent her life believing Cho Kanghyun had been stolen from her. Even so, she had tried to understand Cho Seohyun. They were real blood family, and Seong Sua was the kind of person who respected that bond.
This time was different.
It's too much…. Unnie always does this….
Her reason insisted Cho Seohyun hadn't done it on purpose. Her feelings kept clouding the judgment anyway. This time, Seong Sua made a decision.
I won't let him be taken…. Not this time….
And with that resolve, something murky and humid began to spread through her heart.
"Haa…. Haa…."
Breath fogging in the virtual air, Seong Sua started running her hands over Sung Suho's body. She had touched him plenty of times before — but always the way you touch a child. The look on her face now, the way her hands moved, belonged to an entirely different atmosphere.
After several passes over him, she was sure of it.
VR dulls the senses. He won't wake up from anything short of a real jolt….
Sung Suho only stirred occasionally under her touch. He had never once woken up. Watching him like this brought back the dream she had had — Sung Suho toying with her body. It had only been a dream, but she could still feel the surge of lust that had risen from somewhere deep inside her that night. Something she had never experienced in her entire life. And she had felt it not for Cho Kanghyun, but for Sung Suho.
No… I can't think about that right now….
She tried to shake the thought free. It only sank deeper, rooting itself in her mind — and then it started to affect her body. Seong Sua had never felt desire climb like this. She reached a point she simply could not endure. Rationalizing, feeding herself hopeful excuses, she started spinning the circuit.
He won't wake up anyway….
Slowly, she slid a hand under her skirt. The moment her fingers were about to reach the place that mattered —
"Hm?"
Something stopped her hand cold. A hologram message bloomed in front of her eyes.
Currently running in All-Ages mode.
Switch to 19+ Mode?
[Yes] / [No]
"…."
Seong Sua looked past the hologram at Sung Suho sleeping on the other side and hesitated. The heat roaring through her body was past the point of control.
Even if I unlock it, he won't know….
She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed Yes.
That was the moment.
"Wh— what…?"
The instant 19+ Mode engaged, Sung Suho's body surged and grew — and suddenly she was being held by a fully adult man.
"Th-this is…."
Flustered, Seong Sua checked the hologram again.
Minor avatars cannot be used in 19+ Mode.
Automatically disabled.
The boy who had been lying there moments ago was gone. Touch, sight, smell — all of it had transformed. Adult features. Coarser skin. Not the soft scent of a child, but the body heat and musk of a grown man. And that changed Sung Suho only made the desire thrashing inside Seong Sua surge harder.
"I-I need to switch it back—"
She tried, panicking, to restore the original settings — but the feel of him, the scent of him, was already numbing her senses. A man's touch and smell she had never properly experienced in her life fogged her mind completely. In the end, she surrendered to it.
Haa… It's fine…. He won't wake up…. Just a little….
Seong Sua buried her face against Sung Suho's chest and began touching herself. She had lived her whole life with restraint, always trying to keep this kind of thing locked down. The fear that someone might see her had kept her demure, always. But here — a place where she was certain no one was watching — had become the one space where she could finally let the need out.
Unable to hold it back any longer, she pressed her face into his arms and stroked herself.
"Hnn… haah… hnnngh…."
It wasn't real. She was doing something she had never done even in reality for the first time inside a VR world. But her body was more than satisfied. The man holding her filled in every last missing piece.
"Haah… hnnngh… so good… mmph…."
The scent was subtly different from anything real, but it was more than enough to melt her brain. Still — first-time masturbation, clumsy sensation.
"Haa… haa… I can't go any further."
She kept her eyes shut and focused on the feeling between her legs, but all she managed was to take the edge off. Coming back to herself, she switched the game back to All-Ages mode. Without fully clearing away the residue of that heat, her first time touching herself ended in Sung Suho's arms.
I woke up to Seong Sua, and the first thing I noticed was how restless she looked.
"Y-you're up? D-did you sleep well?"
"…?"
Early on, when we first started sharing a bed, I had seen her flustered a few times after waking — but today she was off in a way that stood out. I tilted my head.
"Instructor Seong Sua, did I talk in my sleep or do something rude?"
"N-no! Not at all!"
"Ah… you just don't look like you slept well…."
"I actually slept so well it was great! Haha…."
No matter how I looked at it, something was different from usual — and then Armonia filled me in.
While you were asleep, Suho, she did something… rather lewd.
Here we go again…. What could she have even done? Just groped a little, right?
She masturbated.
For real!? Show me! I want to see!!
Seong Sua masturbated? I hadn't jerked off in ages, but watching her do it would be good for at least six rounds.
I'll show you later. For now, eat breakfast and report to the security office.
Hell yeah! Finally, some alone time with my hand!
….
I said goodbye to Seong Sua, logged out of VR, took a shower to calm the situation downstairs, and left the dorm. After breakfast, I headed not to the Magic Department faculty office but to Security.
By the time I arrived, the night shift was wrapping up and clearing out. The most senior of the night guards briefed me on what had happened overnight. The report boiled down to: nothing of note.
I nodded, then asked one question.
"If a guard leaves their post during a shift, what kind of disciplinary action is taken?"
"Th-that… shouldn't happen, of course, but I'd imagine a suspension or a pay cut. If an incident resulted from it, it could mean termination… though I've never actually heard of a case like that…."
Asking about disciplinary procedure on only my second day of work clearly made the man nervous. He started watching my face carefully. No matter how important a security post was, people slacked off here and there — especially on night shifts. And if you tried to catch every single one of them, there wouldn't be a single person left who could work here.
"Understood. Sorry for holding you up on your way out. Go get some rest."
"Yes, then…."
Once the reporter left, I sank into thought.
Go Chungshin… how should I cook this guy….
For now, why not look into the woman named Yoon Jia?
But if a guy like Go Chungshin snuck in undercover, that woman probably did too, right? I should've gotten a look at her face yesterday….
I put my money on the possibility that the woman Go Chungshin had met last night was also here under a false identity. Meaning searching by name was useless. The one silver lining was that I had the disposition window open — so even in a place this big, I wouldn't just walk past her without noticing. Whether I'd actually run into her in a Hero Academy this absurdly huge was another question. Staff alone numbered in the hundreds….
Well, mornings are just report intake. Time to head to the Magic Department faculty office.
Busy, busy.
I was roughly clearing my desk and about to leave when the office door opened and someone walked in.
"Hm? You're the one from yesterday?"
"Uh…."
Go Chungshin. He stepped inside, shut the door, fidgeted for a moment, then bowed his head and started apologizing.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. It was my first day on the job, and I mixed up the locations. It was a mistake."
"…."
Watching Go Chungshin bow so low, I frowned in confusion.
What? Looking at his disposition, this doesn't seem like a guy who bends that easily….
Honestly, I had been planning to let it slide myself. I hadn't expected him to come apologize first.
It's likely connected to the fact that he entered under a false identity.
Yeah. Someone who forged their way in isn't here to save up for retirement….
A fake identity meant he had backing. And any organization that could plant someone inside the Hero Academy without getting caught wasn't some small-time outfit. But backing only smiles on you as long as you deliver. Even a hunting dog ends up in the stew pot once it stops being useful. That was how this world worked.
If you snuck in undercover and got fired within a few days?
…They wouldn't just let that go, would they?
Even if they aren't a radical group, you shouldn't expect a warm reception.
Go Chungshin kept apologizing with his waist bent, never showing his face.
"Please. I'll be careful not to make the same mistake again."
"…."
I finished clearing my desk and spoke.
"First day, so I'll let it go. Be more careful from now on."
"Yes. Thank you."
Go Chungshin left the office with his expression carefully locked down. I still didn't know what he was here for — but I had learned one delightful fact.
Heh heh heh… this just keeps getting more fun.
….
No matter what I did to him, that guy wasn't going to dare push back.