A Weekend Full of Surprises
It was the weekend. A rare day off from the gates.
Do-yoon lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. What should he do? He had nothing planned. Deciding to take a walk around the dorm, he wandered the hallways until his eyes landed on a sign at the end of one corridor.
LT__strong__Men-Only Fitness Room
“Oh.”
A faint spark of surprise lit his face. The dorm had a gym? And it was free. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and stepped inside. Immediately, every man in the room turned to look at him.
“...Eh.”
His body froze for an instant. The runner on the treadmill, the guy bench-pressing, the guy stretching—everyone had stopped and was staring straight at him.
Should he leave? Entering a private space uninvited felt wrong. Just as he started to back away, a voice cut through the silence.
“Whoa, don’t go!”
“Wait!”
One man hurried over and grabbed his arm. “Come in. Come in.”
“Ah, yes...”
The man scanned him from head to toe and whistled. “You’re that new intern, right? You really do look like a celebrity.”
“...A celebrity?”
“Yeah. Man, you’re basically a movie star.”
“It’s unfair, really.”
Multiple gazes locked onto him once more. Do-yoon felt a wave of regret. He should have left sooner.
But the atmosphere wasn’t hostile. In fact, it felt welcoming.
“You here to work out? Go ahead, man.”
“Just showing your face is a shame.”
“What do you want to start with? All the machines are free.”
The vibe was completely natural. Do-yoon nodded, still a little dazed. “...Then I’ll just do a quick session and leave.”
“Sure thing. We don’t care. Do as you please.”
He headed for the most straightforward machine, the treadmill. He tapped the buttons awkwardly and started walking slowly.
Not long after, someone stepped onto the machine right beside him. When Do-yoon glanced over, it was the same man who had grabbed him earlier. “Hi.”
“Uh, do your thing.”
The man matched his pace easily and struck up conversation. “But you’re already level seven?”
“Eh?”
“Everyone in the guild knows. Word travels fast about stuff like this.”
“Ah...”
Do-yoon gave an awkward smile. “It’s because my teammates are great.”
“That’s part of it, too.”
The man nodded. “Even so, you’re moving fast.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. When I was around your level, I was too distracted by the girls to keep up.”
“Distracted?”
The man sighed. “They keep chasing after you, confessing, asking you to eat together, even sending messages. Focusing on the gates is hard.”
“Especially early on. The second a new male intern shows up, everyone’s eyes are on him.”
“Rejecting everyone while still climbing levels is its own thing.”
“But you’re amazing.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
The man was genuinely impressed. “You’re holding out against all that and already level seven.”
“...”
Do-yoon was stunned for a second. Chasing. Confessing. Asking to eat together. Now that he thought about it, he had received plenty of stares, but no one had actually approached him like that. His expression shifted subtly.
“Well... yeah.”
The man nodded deeply. “Exactly.”
Soon the other men gathered around, drawn in by the story. “That’s right. It’s really annoying.”
“They come to eat and then claim they’ll sit next to you and ask for your number.”
“Some get super clingy.”
“How many times does it take to get rejected before it stops being funny? People forget how exhausting it is starting from the tenth time.”
“If they cry when you reject them, that’s another headache.”
Everyone nodded and added their own comment. Do-yoon listened from the treadmill, bewildered. “One of my guildmates already used paternity leave.”
“Ah... yes.”
Do-yoon recalled Cha Jin-hyuk’s face. The couple shirt. The ejaculation control ring. The three-year leave. It really had been insane.
“Ugh, that’s the shortest record in guild history. The shortest.”
The man beside him clicked his tongue. “He got a kid as soon as he joined. Paternity leave on day one.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why the term honey trap exists.”
“How terrifying the aggressive women are.”
The surrounding men all nodded in agreement. “I’ve been feeling this all along, but these guys don’t just envy the popular ones. They’re talking about it like it’s a disaster.”
“Still, you’re probably doing better than most. You have the Sword Saint right beside you.”
“Ah...”
“She always sticks to you, so maybe you get less hassle.”
Do-yoon suddenly remembered eating lunch with Yoo Chae-won in the cafeteria. It really had been quieter back then than when he was alone.
“Still, be careful.”
The man spoke seriously. “Once you get entangled, you’re done for. Everything becomes a hassle.”
“Gates, whatever. All annoying.”
Do-yoon smiled awkwardly. “That bad, huh?”
“That bad.”
A man nearby chimed in. “I was the same when I first joined the guild. I used paternity leave multiple times. Then I got older, my stamina dropped, and running gates got harder.”
He shrugged. “The guys I knew back then are already C-rank or B-rank. I’m still E-rank. Shocking, right?”
Another man immediately countered. “C-rank and B-rank means female hunters, right? What do you compare to women?”
“Exactly. You can’t compare. Women have better jobs and faster promotions from the start.”
“That’s fair.”
Everyone agreed it was obvious. “You can date women when you’re older. When you’re young, you build your career first.”
“Women don’t stop liking you just because you’re older. They actually like you more.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“You know those guys who like older women? What’s the word again?”
One man thought for a second, then clapped. “Ah, Oji-kun!”
“Right, Oji-kun.”
“That’s exactly what you are. You’ll still be popular as an old man.”
“Who here wouldn’t be popular?”
“Hahaha!”
Laughter erupted in the gym. “So stack your career while you’re young. Enjoying life pays off later, right?”
“That’s right. You should run the gates when you still have stamina.”
“Women can handle it even as they get older.”
“That’s true.”
Every man around him nodded. Do-yoon watched the scene with a strange feeling. The common sense of the men in this world was completely different from what he knew.
In his old world, people usually dated, got married, and had kids while building their careers on the side. But here it was the opposite. Women were fine later. Career first. Paternity leave was normal.
Do-yoon suddenly felt curious. “Um...”
“Yeah?”
“Have all the people here gotten married?”
A heavy silence fell. “Married?”
“No way.”
“Who gets married these days?”
They all laughed as if the question was ridiculous. “Yeah, there were people who got married?”
“Almost none now.”
“Why would anyone bother?”
“...Yeah...”
Do-yoon smiled awkwardly. Then one man suddenly clapped. “Ah! Guild Master.”
“Guild Master must be married, right?”
“Whoa, you remember that?”
“Like twenty years ago, right?”
“Back then marriages were pretty common.”
“Now there are almost none.”
“Why get married? The kids follow the mother anyway.”
“Exactly.”
“Just have kids, why fill out all the forms?”
Do-yoon grew more dazed. He paused, then asked again. “Then... how many kids do you all have?”
“I have eleven.”
“I have eight.”
“I have four.”
“I have three, and the youngest is two now.”
“Ah, that’s so envy-worthy. The youngest are the cutest at that age.”
Do-yoon nearly slipped on the treadmill. Eleven? Eight? Four? Way more than he imagined.
He managed to keep a straight face and asked, “Then... how do you raise them?”
“It depends on each kid.”
“I go see them once a month.”
“I go every two weeks.”
“I coordinate schedules with their moms and take turns playing with them.”
“I haven’t seen mine in a while.”
Immediately a voice chimed in. “Hey, bro, your kids are all grown up now.”
“Yeah, they’re in their teens.”
“Remember when you were a single dad and kids clung to you?”
“That time felt the best, even if it was annoying.”
“Exactly. Elementary school is when it ends. After that, friends come first.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Do-yoon listened dazed, then asked something else that crossed his mind. “Then... how do you pay child support?”
A few men blinked. “Child support?”
“Oh.”
The man running the treadmill beside him smiled as if he understood. “How much do you get?”
“Eh?”
Do-yoon was momentarily stunned. Receive? Wasn’t he the one giving it? But the conversation had already flowed so naturally.
“It depends on the kids.”
“I’m at about three thousand now.”
“I’m only at two thousand.”
“Whoa, way less than I thought.”
“The youngest is almost out, and the older ones barely take any.”
“Ah, got it.”
Do-yoon mulled over the words, dazed. Child support... received? In this world it seemed like the concept was closer to the dad regularly seeing the kids and helping maintain the relationship. There might be an element of supporting living expenses, but the vibe here was completely different from the child support he knew.
“Ah...”
He sighed inwardly. Here, the mothers usually raised the kids, and the dads came around regularly.
“It’s because kids need their dad’s face for their emotional health.”
Someone added casually. “If it’s far, you pay travel costs and have to take a full day off.”
“That’s right. So the amount varies per kid.”
“Younger kids mean more visits. It depends on how the moms are doing.”
“There’s also government assistance.”
He had known all this in theory. Different gender ratios. Different social atmosphere. Different values. But hearing it one by one made it hit him. Family structure. Dating style. Responsibility. Everything was completely different from his world.
Do-yoon let out a quiet sigh. Would he get used to it? Honestly, he wasn’t sure. But at least one thing was clear. He still had a long way to go before he could understand this world.