Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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This was inside the game Animal Village. We'd just stepped into the second day.
Before starting the game, Seong Sua had hemmed and hawed before making me a proposal—a request.
(Wouldn't it be better to log in looking like you did yesterday...?)
(Ah... I suppose a full-grown man would be a bit creepy, right?)
(N-no, that's not it! It's just... like you said yesterday, it's so fresh!)
Seong Sua said that with a smile.
For now, I logged in just as she wanted, exactly as I'd been set up the day before.
What she and I had planned for today was to catch glowbugs and use them to make lanterns for the house and around it.
This game ran on a system where time inside matched time outside perfectly, so whenever we played, it was always evening.
That was why Seong Sua had suggested making streetlights and lamps around the village.
As we caught the flying glowbugs, Seong Sua smiled and said,
"Still, we can log in during the day on weekends, so we can try other things then."
"Ah... well..."
"...? Is something wrong?"
In response to Seong Sua's question, I told her I had plans outside on the weekend and couldn't play together.
"Then on weekends..."
"Yeah, I have something important to do on weekends..."
"Ah..."
Seong Sua looked down at me with a disappointed expression.
I apologized to her.
"Sorry. You're already making time for me, and here I am ruining the fun."
"No, don't say that... We're having fun together."
Seong Sua laughed and patted my head.
It was only day two, and she was already casually initiating skinship without any hesitation.
I had no idea how many times that made it...
Armonia clearly hadn't liked what Seong Sua did to me while I was sleeping yesterday.
For now, the plan was in place.
I figured the key with Seong Sua was to keep playing like this and gradually close the distance between us.
Most importantly, I couldn't show any pointless discomfort.
If I made a uncomfortable face for no reason, the sharp Seong Sua might feel guilty and start keeping her distance.
Truth be told, there was nothing uncomfortable about it. It felt great.
What man wouldn't like a woman like Seong Sua treating him so tenderly, like a mom?
The only issue would be if she got bored of the game, but given how much time she'd already sunk into it, I doubted she'd tire of it anytime soon.
We roamed the grass-scented plains, snagging every glowbug we spotted, then headed home.
We combined the glowbugs with other materials to craft lanterns and started installing them around.
But...
'Sheesh, they really applied the short height like this...'
I tried hanging a lantern on the wall of the treehouse.
But I was too short to reach where I wanted.
As I struggled holding the lantern, Seong Sua grabbed my side from behind and lifted me up.
"Here, go ahead."
"S-sorry. This game..."
"It's fine."
Seong Sua chuckled as she held me up.
I could've hung them much more easily on my own, but in the end, all the lanterns around the house ended up being installed by me while she lifted me.
Seong Sua admired the finished house with the lanterns.
"Wow, it's so much better when it's bright."
Just as she said, the area around the house was now lit up nicely.
"Yeah. We should save the leftover glowbugs for lighting up other spots when we go exploring later."
"That's a great idea! Shall we check inside too?"
The atmosphere inside the house had changed dramatically too.
The original house had relied on just one lantern, but now with extras by the bed and on the table, the whole interior was much brighter.
And as I took in the sight, I noticed something surprising.
'...Whoa. Three hours already?'
This game didn't actually consume real stamina no matter how much you wandered around.
Sure, chopping wood or gathering materials used in-game stamina, but that was just numbers on a screen.
I looked at Seong Sua with a surprised expression.
"Whoa... we've already been playing for three hours."
"Oh? Really?!"
Seong Sua checked the clock in surprise.
It was nearing 11 p.m.
I spoke to the startled Seong Sua with an apologetic tone.
"Come to think of it, it's Friday... I feel bad dragging you into this."
"Instructor Seong Suho, don't say that. I'm really enjoying this. Or..."
Seong Sua continued with a pout.
"You're not saying it's no fun playing with me, right?"
"N-no way. Of course it's fun for me."
"See? It's fun for me too. So let's not say stuff like that anymore."
"Haha... yeah, got it."
Just from this conversation, it felt like the kind of friendship between a guy and a girl where sparks might fly.
If only Seong Sua weren't patting my head like she was proud of me...
I said to her,
"You should get some sleep soon."
"Huh? C-can't we play just a bit longer?"
"Aren't you tired?"
"I'm still full of energy!"
Seong Sua rolled up her sleeves and grinned brightly.
The instructor side of her was completely gone, leaving only the big-sister Seong Sua.
'Well, she probably separates work and casual time to some degree.'
What was fascinating was how clearly that divide showed.
In my eyes, the virtual world was the boundary separating Instructor Seong Sua from the real Seong Sua.
Her actions even felt like a form of rebellion.
Seong Sua then took me on a tour of the village bathed in silvery light from the crescent moon.
About an hour later, fatigue from accumulated fatigue training sessions started making me drowsy.
As Seong Sua began chopping wood enthusiastically with an axe, I leaned against a tree to sleep.
'She'll handle things if I doze off...'
I imagined Seong Sua not waking me, just hugging me and squatting down to lean against the tree herself.
'Armonia, wake me in the morning.'
[Understood.]
Glancing at Seong Sua, I leaned against the tree and drifted off to sleep in no time.
"...Instructor Seong Suho?"
Seong Sua stopped chopping and approached Seong Suho cautiously.
She spoke even more quietly, afraid he might wake.
"Instructor Seong Suho, you can't sleep here."
She checked on him in a whisper so soft it wouldn't reach his ears.
"..."
"Looks like you'll have to sleep here again tonight."
Seong Sua carefully sat down beside the sleeping Seong Suho, lost in thought.
'What do I do... I like him too much... This must be what it feels like to have a kid.'
Seong Sua hugged the sleeping Seong Suho and headed home.
Even as she carried him, she felt no discomfort or rational tension toward him.
Only maternal love overflowed.
Seong Sua would've treated an NPC identical to Seong Suho's character the same way.
But such an NPC would just be programmed, and repeated interactions would've dulled her affection over time.
But Seong Suho matched her perfectly.
To Seong Sua, he had become someone she couldn't bear to let go.
Seong Sua carefully laid him on the bed without waking him and lay down beside him.
"Haa... I shouldn't be doing this."
As she watched the sleeping Seong Suho, guilt and desire clashed inside her once more.
The Seong Suho she'd seen so far was diligent and considerate.
Even though the real Seong Suho was nothing like that, Seong Sua had no way of knowing.
If it had been any ordinary guy in this situation, she would've woken him up somehow, logged him out, and gone to sleep herself.
But the game she'd started out of guilt toward this man who'd treated her with such sincerity had somehow awakened a desire for a family deep inside her.
Above all, Seong Sua already realized it.
She knew she shouldn't, but letting this man go meant she'd never have a chance at this happiness again.
Seong Sua eventually turned off the light in the room, smiled, and carefully hugged him.
"Just for a little while... stay with me a bit longer... Instructor Seong Suho."
..
..
"...Hm? Huh!?"
Upon waking, Seong Sua instinctively reached for the child's warmth in her arms, but grasped only empty air.
When she came to her senses, dawn was breaking, and she was alone in the bed.
"N-no way, he's not mad, is he...?"
Seong Sua anxiously got out of bed.
There was no one around.
"No... no..."
She worried that Seong Suho might have gotten upset over her actions and slipped away secretly.
As guilt burrowed deeper into her heart, an alert popped up in her messenger window.
"...What's this? I set my login to private, so no one should know..."
She opened the messenger and checked the message sent to her.
It was a long note from Seong Suho.
Instructor Seong Sua, I'm sorry. I fell asleep by mistake again. I woke up too embarrassed to face you, so I slipped away quietly.
-Omitted-
Without Instructor Seong Sua, I never would've had such an enjoyable school life. Thank you so much for always looking out for me and being so considerate.
P.S. I'll definitely apologize to you in person later.
"Haa..."
Seong Sua flopped back onto the bed and thrashed about in overwhelming joy.
To her, this note didn't feel like it was from Instructor Seong Suho—it was from the young Seong Suho.
"What do I do!! He's too adorable!!"
She felt the joy of receiving a "I love you" letter from her child for the first time.
Seong Sua spent until lunchtime rereading the note over and over, wriggling in delight on the bed.
'...'
Armonia kept repeating that until I returned to the ship.