Day One (4)
By the time Yoo Chae-won came to her senses, she found herself staring at a familiar ceiling.
“…Eh.”
Her eyes, hazy with confusion, swept the room and her body jerked in alarm.
Her hands and feet were bound to a chair.
It was obvious this was a basement.
That instant.
“Yoo Chae-won.”
A familiar woman’s voice rang out.
Yoo Chae-won’s body stiffened instantly.
“Y-yes! Senior!”
A trembling voice burst out.
In the darkness, the seated woman crossed her legs.
“Good.”
“Did you handle today’s task well?”
“Y-yes!”
Yoo Chae-won nodded vigorously.
“I always maintained a one-meter distance!”
“I minimized unnecessary conversation!”
“I escorted you safely without getting injured even at the gate!”
She sounded exactly like a soldier reporting to a superior.
The woman listened in silence.
Yoo Chae-won, emboldened, continued.
“I also organized the Mana Stones and removed all dangerous elements, and safely escorted you!”
A brief silence fell.
Then the woman spoke.
“And.”
“…H-huh?”
Yoo Chae-won blinked in surprise.
“And?”
“Uh…”
Her face gradually hardened.
She had somehow forgotten something.
After a moment of hesitation, she shouted.
“Oh! You also said we could be in the same party next time too!”
Her expression brightened instantly.
“Such a kind person!”
Whish—
Near Yoo Chae-won’s face.
CRACK!!!
A fist slammed into the wall.
The concrete wall crumbled from the impact.
“Hyik?!”
Yoo Chae-won screamed and shook the entire chair.
If it had missed her by even a little, her head would have been blown off.
In the darkness, the woman said in a cold voice.
“Your opinion is unnecessary.”
“……”
“Do as you please. Understand?”
Yoo Chae-won’s face turned deathly pale.
“Y-yes! I’ll handle it perfectly next time too! With my life!”
“No need for that.”
“……”
“Do it moderately.”
“……”
Yoo Chae-won nodded with teary eyes.
The woman watching her sighed.
“What a pain in the ass.”
And she didn’t notice.
Yoo Chae-won, head bowed low, was secretly curling the corners of her mouth.
She was happy that they would be in the same party again.
***
Back at the dorm, Kang Do-yoon showered and immediately collapsed onto the bed.
He opened his status window.
What caught his eye were the rewards from today.
[Mana Stone ×20]
[Skill Enhancement Ticket ×1]
[Random Skill Acquisition Ticket ×1]
“Let me check.”
Kang Do-yoon first tapped the Skill Enhancement Ticket description.
─────────────────
Skill Enhancement Ticket
Enhance one of your skills.
Success rate: 50%
─────────────────
He tapped the Random Skill Acquisition Ticket next.
─────────────────
Random Skill Acquisition Ticket
Randomly acquire a skill matching your class. If you already own the skill, it will be enhanced at 100% success rate.
─────────────────
“Just like in the game.”
In the worst case, it would be skill enhancement for Healing.
In the best case, a new skill.
Either way, no loss.
Kang Do-yoon thought for a moment.
“Then I’ll use the Enhancement Ticket.”
50% chance anyway.
Whoever was meant to succeed would, and whoever wasn’t wouldn’t.
He selected Healing without hesitation.
“Enhance.”
The Skill Enhancement Ticket began to glow.
Shimmer.
Oh.
It seemed like something would happen.
Kang Do-yoon leaned forward out of anticipation.
And.
BOOM!
The Enhancement Ticket exploded like fireworks.
[Enhancement Failed]
“……”
Kang Do-yoon stared at the window calmly.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
“Fuck.”
As expected, the things that didn’t work didn’t work.
But he quickly relaxed his expression.
It might even be fortunate.
“Think of it as a sacrifice. I offered a goat.”
There was a saying that tossing a goat before the draw would bring good luck.
Of course, no evidence.
Still, his mood improved.
He immediately took out the Random Skill Acquisition Ticket.
“Something good! Please, something good!”
Kang Do-yoon clasped his hands together.
And pressed the button.
The ticket burst with brilliant light.
“Ooh.”
A moment later.
A new window appeared before his eyes.
[Skill Acquired]
─────────────────
Shield Lv.1
Creates a protective barrier that absorbs 100 damage.
─────────────────
“……”
Kang Do-yoon read the explanation.
Read it again.
And again.
“Hmm.”
Good or bad?
He had no information because he only used damage skills in game play.
But it didn’t seem bad for a healer to use.
“I’ll try it on Yoo Chae-won-nim tomorrow.”
As a Sword Saint, she’d probably not get hit by most attacks, but testing it would be fine.
He picked up the nearby phone.
“Now I should look up some information.”
There was still a lot he didn’t know about this world.
Kang Do-yoon opened the search bar.
And an hour later.
“…More ordinary than I thought?”
It was unexpected.
At first he thought it was a completely different world.
But after searching the internet, he found many similarities.
Cars.
Games.
Soccer.
Variety shows.
Movies.
Daily life was largely the same as the original world.
The difference?
The positions of men and women.
“Salary is 1.5 times higher?”
The average hourly wage for male workers was higher than for females.
It was said to be due to scarcity value.
He could understand that.
But.
Kang Do-yoon’s expression changed strangely when he read the next article.
“New male-only subway car on the way to work?… Government and transportation company considering expansion”
“Women stalkers who come to your door at night and send texts day and night make men tremble”
“The state is matchmaking… ‘Male Quota System’ childbirth rate bill sparks online and offline chaos”
“…Eh.”
These articles were strangely familiar, but every subject was the opposite.
After a bit more searching, he understood why.
The Ejaculation Control Ring.
Thanks to it, most men’s sexual desire was significantly lowered.
Women were different.
As a result.
What used to be various perversions by men in the original world was now done by women here.
“What’s the Male Quota System?”
“The state is matchmaking… ‘Male Quota System’ childbirth rate bill sparks online and offline chaos”
“In the face of the national crisis of plummeting birth rates, a bill proposing to forcibly assign unmarried men to women to solve the issue has been introduced, causing fierce debates in politics and public opinion. etc.”
“Wow… makes my stomach turn.”
He scrolled through the comments.
[Anonymous1]
— No way, I’ve never seen such a law before lol. It’s because men can’t properly seduce anyone anymore and are begging the state to assign them males? Not like a breeding system, the idea itself is too funny. (421 recommendations)
[Anonymous2]
— Honestly, with the current birth rate, nothing normal will work. Even if we adopt a radical system like this and force the state to pair us up, marriage rates and births will increase. The intention is very realistic and a good system, I hope it’s implemented soon. (108 recommendations)
[Anonymous3]
— Are the people supporting this sane? Where did men’s rights go? Even men have the right to choose a person and love. The idea of the state forcibly assigning males like breeding livestock is chilling. (512 recommendations)
Kang Do-yoon let out a dry laugh.
“The world sure…”
The funniest part came next.
“Game-loving male conquest tips”
“How to naturally bring up car stories”
“Tips for approaching a liked male”
“…What is this?”
Turning the popular page, more posts poured in.
Analysis of hobbies liked by males.
How to become friends with a male.
Talks to gain favor with a male.
Here, women were genuinely trying to seduce males.
The events from today flashed through his mind.
The women who prayed to be in the same party as Cha Jin-hyuk.
The countless gazes staring at him.
“Ah, the gallery.”
Suddenly, Kang Do-yoon stood up.
There must be anonymous communities in this world too.
It was unthinkable for humans to live without them.
He immediately typed into the search bar.
First, he checked the Hunter Gallery.
More ordinary than expected.
[Cleared today’s XX gate (3)]
[XX guild leader interviewed again (15)]
[How do you see job tiers? (0)]
“Oh.”
It was no different from the galleries he usually browsed.
There was cursing, trolling, and memes.
Kang Do-yoon nodded in satisfaction.
“As expected, human places are all the same.”
And he searched for a guild community.
But he had to authenticate with his employee badge.
After signing up and authenticating, approval came quickly.
And one post on the top caught his eye.
[Three males in the new interns? (137)]
‘This feels off….’
Kang Do-yoon clicked it immediately.
Title: Three males in the new interns? (137)
Author: Anonymous
Did you see the males’ status?
[Comments]
— Top. Unknown. Average
└ Salaryman tsk tsk
└ You gave us the info we wanted most, why the complaints
└ Who does Top look like?
└ Cha X-woo vibe
└ Oh
└ Oh?
└ Really?
└ Warmly handsome
└ Wow
— I’ll wait in the cafeteria from today
└ I already claimed a seat
└ Crazy bitch
└ I’ll be gone starting tomorrow
└ When do the interns finish practice?
└ Calm down, guys
└ You’re curious too
└ Yeah
— What’s unknown?
└ Literally unknown
“……”
Kang Do-yoon slowly scrolled down.
More posts appeared.
[Is the cafeteria hot? (5)]
[Report of males interns location (14)]
[Interns practice ended (11)]
“……”
Kang Do-yoon set the phone down.
And looked at the ceiling for a moment.
“Heh….”
Only dry laughter came out.
Kang Do-yoon realized anew.
These women in this world were far more sincere than he thought.