How to Steal the Hero's Woman - 299: Yggdrasil (3-8)
‘Haa… Thank goodness.’
That was Han Bom's thought as Primum Village came into view.
After she'd spent such a fun time with Seong Su-ho, by the time the two of them went looking for Han Yeo-reum, he was already gone.
No matter how much she disliked her, she was still family, so they'd put in the effort to find her—but all that came back was regression.
‘Surely it'll work next time too, right?’
The fuzzy regression she'd only experienced once so far.
But this confirmed it.
‘Still, I need to watch my words as much as possible.’
She knew regression was possible, but in the end, Han Yeo-reum was the one in control of it.
Although Han Bom was currently regressing alongside Han Yeo-reum, she feared that one day she might forget everything and simply be swept away by the tide of the return.
That was exactly why she'd clung so desperately to Seong Su-ho and satisfied every burst of his desire.
The anxiety that this might be the last time.
‘Hehehe… Alright, let's go.’
Han Bom was more satisfied that she hadn't forgotten Seong Su-ho through the regression than the fact that he'd lost his memories of her, and she headed to where he might be.
The village center she arrived at was a total mess.
Thanks to one person…
‘…Just what the hell happened to him before he died?’
Han Yeo-reum was out cold, and Seong Su-ho and Min Ha-yeon were flustered by the sight of him.
Han Bom put off her touching reunion with Min Ha-yeon for now and led her and her party to the lodging where she was staying.
And throughout the walk, Seong Su-ho's gaze kept drifting her way.
‘…He's really staring at unnie with such intensity.'’
It made her feel neglected, but she understood.
She understood, but it pissed her off.
It pissed her off, but she endured.
The other party was none other than Min Ha-yeon.
Min Ha-yeon was a woman Han Bom respected—and more than that, the ideal woman she herself had desired to become.
She believed her own efforts wouldn't have succeeded without Min Ha-yeon.
Whenever she saw Min Ha-yeon thriving, she'd always been amazed, never jealous.
Han Bom was confident she would never harbored any ill will toward Min Ha-yeon in her life.
But that confidence was starting to crack for the first time.
‘…I really hate this.’
She was starting to hate herself for feeling jealous.
And what made the disgust grow even more was realizing that Min Ha-yeon had been dating Han Yeo-reum all this time because of her.
‘I encouraged her to date that piece of shit, made them get close, and now…’
Han Bom's efforts to mediate between Min Ha-yeon and Han Yeo-reum weren't for her sister's sake at all.
It was because she didn't want to lose Min Ha-yeon.
The other sisters felt the same.
They desperately wanted Min Ha-yeon by their side, terrified that any breakup would ruin all their relationships.
And now, her selfish desire to have Min Ha-yeon close clashed with the jealousy gnawing at her.
Seong Su-ho kept entering Han Bom's view.
‘Trash… What about me…’
No matter how much she whispered to herself that it was wrong, he kept filling her vision.
The gloom of losing the man she had shared body heat and love with just moments ago began to dominate her heart.
‘Regression… isn't all good, huh.’
With that melancholy, Han Bom finished eating with Min Ha-yeon and Seong Su-ho, then went to check on Han Yeo-reum.
She wanted to wedge herself between the two of them somehow, but since she had to pretend this was their first meeting, she focused on acting naturally..
Leaving the friendly pair behind, she headed back to the lodging to tend to the unconscious Han Yeo-reum.
‘Haa… Why the hell do I have to clean up after this idiot too?’
She was starting to get angry.
The thought that some people got to flirt and play while she had to look after a pathetic family member made her mood sour further.
After some time passed, Han Yeo-reum woke up.
He was oblivious to Han Bom's mood and opened his mouth in an excited state.
“Where's that bastard right now?”
“…Downstairs talking with unnie.”
“Fuck!”
Han Yeo-reum spat curses and bolted out of the lodging. Han Bom muttered as she watched him go.
“Haa… So annoying.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Four of us sat at one table, staring at each other with maximum wariness.
And at the center of that wariness was none other than me.
‘…This is fucking annoying.’
It was beyond mere inconvenience, a surge of irritation was washing over me..
Han Yeo-reum had come straight to me the moment he woke up and started picking a fight.
That was tolerable.
Luckily, the bickering didn't last long.
The problem was him sticking to me nonstop.
That was bearable too.
But following me even into the bathroom? That was crossing the line.
“…Just in case you're wondering, I'm not gay. I have zero interest in assholes like you. Back off.”
“What!? Gay? You son of a bitch!”
Han Yeo-reum bristled at my words and started cursing up a storm.
I frowned at the handsome guy spewing filth.
“Then why are you following me to the bathroom?”
“…Obviously 'cause I know you're up to some shady shit again.”
“You're the one doing shady shit. Trailing after a guy like a stalker…”
“Shut up!!”
“Can you please be quiet for once!”
“Yeah, you're not the only one here!”
“Ugh…”
Han Yeo-reum's momentum deflated under the two women's sharp rebukes, and he quieted down again.
The nice drinking gathering I had set up had turned into an awkward regressor meetup.
Everyone just sipped their drinks, unable to chat pleasantly.
The biggest reason was obviously Han Yeo-reum.
But Han Bom was adding plenty of fuel to the fire too.
Unlike last round, she was keeping some distance from Min Ha-yeon.
She'd seemed welcoming earlier, but at some point, she had grown sullen, sitting there with a listless expression.
Min Ha-yeon seemed to think it was because Han Bom was going through a tough time and looked worried.
‘This won't do. I need to step out first.’
I decided leaving the two alone would be best.
This was something Han Bom had to resolve herself.
If I butted in, Min Ha-yeon would get the wrong idea for sure.
“Ha-yeon-ah, I'm gonna step out for some air.”
“Huh? Why not stay together…”
“Nah. Thinking about it, it feels like things are quiet because of me…”
I glanced at Han Bom, gave a wry smile, and stood.
“I'll poke around and check out the area.”
“Mm… Okay, be careful.”
Min Ha-yeon seemed worried about Han Bom too and wanted to talk privately, so she let me go easily.
But Han Yeo-reum didn't want to let me off.
“You son of a bitch, where do you think you're going?”
“You don't need to know, you gay bastard.”
“I told you to stop saying that!”
As I stood to leave the inn, Han Yeo-reum chased right after.
I looked at him with a face full of disgust, like he was some stalker.
“You gay bastard. If you keep following me, I'm reporting you.”
“Shut up!”
I left the inn, worried but resolved to trust the two.
‘…Hope Ha-yeon-ah takes good care of him.’
There were no special gains.
‘Of course not. With that bitch tailing me, what could I do?’
Han Yeo-reum had followed me nonstop as I wandered the village.
He claimed he was keeping distance while surveilling, but I wondered what he even gained from it.
His vigilance has intensified.
‘He's probably desperate to grab at any straw.’
In truth, I had realized on day one that there wasn't much I could do, so I was just wandering for fresh air.
I considered meeting Yang Ji-hyeon early to plot, but that wasn't ideal either.
There was a high possibility that Yang Ji-hyeon, in her attempt to "help" me, might nullify the duel scheduled for the next day.
‘Time to head back… Huh?’
As I turned toward the inn, I ran into a group.
The woman in the middle approached with a wilted smile, waving lightly.
Park Jin-hee greeted me first.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ah, just wandering around hoping to pick up some useful info. What about you three?”
“Same here.”
With Han Yeo-reum's collapse, Han Bom's reunion, the celebratory meal, and then the follow-up drinks—all jumbled together—the three women had been pushed aside and were scouting the village for anything helpful.
The beauty trio had grown closer to each other than us after coming up from the 0th floor and losing Min Ha-yeon and Han Yeo-reum.
“Come to think of it, your name's Seong Su-ho, right?”
“Yes.”
“I heard earlier. You cleared that boss fight?”
“Was it tough?”
“They say surviving was a miracle…”
“Haha…”
I gave a rough rundown of the Shock Bee (0th floor boss) and recounted the boss fight events.
Somehow, we ended up sitting on a bench in the open square, chatting.
“Wow… The rewards must've been insane, huh?”
“It gave a Job Ticket for an extra class, at least.”
“Uh… You can just tell us that?”
Park Jin-hee, who seemed the most timid, asked cautiously.
These women seemed to have a rough grasp of how survival worked here.
Spreading good cards around never ended well.
Especially to near-strangers you just met.
I said it like it was no big deal.
“It's fate we met— no point hiding it.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, the Job Ticket was an item stored in my Inventory, so stealing it was impossible.
And I had no reason to give it to them even if they asked.
Besides, there was no way these three would go around blabbing about it to others.
‘Subordination is straight-up broken.’
Right now, I could see the subordination magic circles on their lower abdomens, shining through their clothes into my eyes.
No one else could see them…
My casual remark seemed to sit well with them, and they started chatting more.
“What did you do before coming here?”, “You can use magic?!”, “That's amazing…”
There was zero reason for me to feel bad about them warming up to me.
If they had done anything harmful or harbored ill intent, I would have ditched them from the start.
But they already had subordination, and more importantly, they'd never shown me hostility—just indifference until now.
‘They'd never dream Han Yeo-reum hates them. Huh? Where did he go?’
He was on screen until a moment ago, but has quickly vanished.
‘…Did he go pick a fight?’
That was the moment I had that thought.
In the distance, I saw a woman with brown hair fluttering, sprinting toward the open lot at a crazed speed.
‘…Crazy.’
That piece of shit Han Yeo-reum... he's damn fast when it comes to useless things.
Luckily, the worst-case scenario I had imagined did not occur.
What was the worst-case scenario?
‘An arrow to my head.’
[…]
It was half-joking, half-serious.
The situation could've shifted a lot depending on what Han Yeo-reum told Min Ha-yeon.
Thankfully, the worst didn't come to pass. After Min Ha-yeon arrived, I wrapped up with the beauty trio by saying the chat was fun.
Once they left, only Min Ha-yeon and I remained in the square.
She looked up at me with fierce eyes…
“Uh, um… Did you talk well with Han Bom-ssi?”
“No, thanks to a certain someone, I had to cut the conversation short and leave.”
“Ha… ha… ha…”
I laughed vaguely at the air, and Min Ha-yeon skipped the deflection and got straight to it.
“What did you talk about?”
“Just basic introductions.”
“Tell me exactly.”
“…Okay.”
I recounted every word of my chat with the three women to Min Ha-yeon, without a single lie or omission.
Precise, unfiltered…
After hearing it all, Min Ha-yeon looked shocked, glanced around, and started grilling me.
“Why did you tell them about the Job Ticket!?”
“We're going to be seeing each other for a long time. I didn't think it was good to hide it. Ah! Don't you mention it, though.”
“Why not me?”
“Because I'm using this as a test.”
“A test?”
The trio was under Subjugation, so they wouldn't leak my words, but to convince Min Ha-yeon, I had to mix in some lies.
“I'm testing to see if those women will go around blabbing about what I told them”
“What if they do?”
“Then I'll just dissolve the party and there's a bigger reason.”
“…?”
“Ha-yeon-ah, if you regress, won't this be good info then?”
“…Hmph.”
Min Ha-yeon crossed her arms, snorted, and turned away.
Separate from her anger, she seemed to grudgingly accept my logic and relax a bit.
But letting it end like this wouldn't be Seong Su-ho.
“Ha-yeon-ah, can't you forgive me?”
I said that while checking her displayed Sexual Predispositions trait and approached her.
Sexual Predispositions : Sexual desire toward the target (Seong Su-ho) increases in proportion to obsession related to the target, and obsession and lust are resolved through sexual acts with the target.