Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Hey! What the Hell Are You Doing?! Have You Finally Gone Into Heat or Something?!!!
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Sizzle.
Bubble bubble.
The room was filled with the spicy aroma of tteokbokki.
Pomi, thrilled beyond measure, poked her head over Seol Harin's shoulder and sniffed eagerly.
"Tteokbokki?"
"You know tteokbokki?"
"Of course! I've never gotten to try it! My previous owner hogged it all!"
"......"
Pomi had initially refused to even talk to Seol Harin.
But as time passed, she'd started exchanging a few words.
Of course, it was still a far cry from any real progress in their relationship.
Click.
The door opened with a sound, and Pomi bounced excitedly toward the entrance.
"Master's home! Master!!"
"Heh heh. Were you waiting?"
"I was waiting forever!! What did the head say? Did she talk smack?? Want me to teach her a lesson??"
"Nothing much. That little brat just needed someone to talk to, it seems.... But what's this smell?"
Perfect timing.
Seol Harin placed the tteokbokki on the table with an arrogant grin.
Her nose was practically pointed to the sky in smug pride.
"Gifts are meant to be exchanged. I made this specially since you gave me earrings. Not just anyone gets to taste it, so feel honored."
"Huh?"
Kim Taeyang eyed the tteokbokki suspiciously, sniffing it.
He shook his head and headed straight for the sofa.
"Wh-what's with that reaction? You're not gonna eat it?!"
"Are you an idiot?! No master eats food made by a slave!!"
"Wh-why not...?"
"It could be an assassination attempt, you moron!!!"
"......!"
Thwack.
It felt like getting hammered in the head with a mallet.
'He doesn't trust me that much...?'
Seol Harin had thought some bond had formed, even if they bickered on the surface.
Didn't they share the trust forged in ironing sessions?
So the words "assassination attempt" stung a little...!
"Master! Is there poison in this? Can I not eat it...?"
"Hey. You're fine to eat it. I've never heard of a Constellation getting poisoned to death."
"Yay! Woof woof!"
Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp!!!
Ecstatic, Pomi inhaled the tteokbokki.
Her cheeks puffed out like balloons.
With sauce smeared all over her mouth, she looked up and yelled.
"It's so spicyyyyy!!!!!!"
"......"
At least Pomi was enjoying it, which was a relief,
but Seol Harin wasn't ready to give up just yet.
She scooped some tteokbokki onto a side plate and approached Kim Taeyang, sprawled on the sofa.
"Just try one bite."
"The more you push, the more suspicious it seems."
"It's not like that! Treating someone else's sincerity this way... you're such trash!"
Huff.
Seol Harin ate a piece first.
Proof there was no poison.
"Happy now?"
"How do I know you didn't pick the safe ones just for yourself?"
Seol Harin's tteokbokki truly wasn't for just anyone.
She'd specially prepared this rare treat that even her parents had only tasted.
And now it was being treated like assassin cuisine?
Fuming, Seol Harin pounced on Kim Taeyang.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Have you finally gone into heat or something?!!!"
"Hey, cut it out...! Just try it already! It's good!!"
Kim Taeyang lay on the sofa.
Seol Harin straddled on top.
A fork with bright red tteokbokki trembled, aiming for his mouth.
'I'll shove it in when he calls me a sow!'
This was about the point where Kim Taeyang would usually spit out "sow!"
Seol Harin timed it perfectly, ready to stuff the tteokbokki in as his mouth opened on the "ga" syllable.
"Hey! Have you lost your mind, you sow......?"
Shove.
Her prediction shot was spot on.
Chew chew...
Once the tteokbokki hit his mouth, Kim Taeyang chewed thoroughly.
"So? Good, right? Say it's good."
"...It's decent, I'll give you that. But seriously, no poison?"
"I told you no!"
Unable to resist Seol Harin's nagging, Kim Taeyang finally sat at the table.
"Figured a rich girl like you couldn't cook, but this is surprisingly good."
"I don't cook often, but I do it as a hobby sometimes. It's good for cultivating the mind."
"Hm... This might earn you a promotion to maid."
"M-maid...?"
Treating her like a maid, that guy.
It was absurd, but if she thought of it as recognition, it felt oddly satisfying.
"If I keep earning recognition like this, how far could I climb? Final position... w-wife? H-ha ha...!"
"?"
"......"
Silence fell.
She'd thrown it out as a joke she thought would be funny, but it seemed she'd crossed a line.
"Hey. You wanna be my wife?"
"Wh-what are you saying?! There's no way I'd want to marry a lowlife sleaze like you!"
"Huh? I wouldn't take you anyway, slave!"
"......"
Only the scrape of fork on plate echoed.
The two sat in heavy silence for a while.
Seol Harin broke it first.
"Can I ask something?"
"Huh?"
"Why'd you join the Guidance Committee? Doesn't seem like you actually want to do the work..."
"Heh heh. Obviously to get more slaves."
"......!"
Seol Harin flinched a little.
She'd expected it, but hearing it straight made her uneasy.
"Is Senior Cloé your target...?"
"You got it. And that wriggly Constellation's gonna be mine too!"
"So... I'm not enough for you..."
"Hey! The more slaves, the better!"
Seol Harin briefly imagined slave life with Cloé.
Would she get pushed down the priority list?
Would Kim Taeyang neglect her while training Cloé?
An inexplicable urgency gripped her.
"You have a way to steal her? Cloé's Constellation, Rasha-ra, hates thugs like you."
"Think I don't know that? I got plans~ Just thinking about that wriggly thing doing hilarious tricks makes me laugh already. Heh heh."
Rasha-ra was a stoic, serious Constellation.
How did he plan to subdue her?
It was beyond Seol Harin's comprehension.
"You're swapping with Pomi for a week, right? Just in case... what if Pomi changes her mind...?"
Pomi bristled at Seol Harin's words.
"I won't betray Master!!"
"But you betrayed me!"
"The previous master was too mean, I had no choice!!"
"......"
Arguing with Pomi was a losing battle.
She had a knack for bullshit.
"Hey, Pomi. Don't let them play you. Give 'em hell. Got it?"
"Yeah! I can do it!"
"Don't worry about seducing that wriggly one. By the end of the swap, I'll have two Constellations. Heh heh."
"I love making friends too!!"
On one hand, it was exciting.
A hero who seduced Constellations, not chosen by them...
'How the hell's he gonna pull that off?'
An ordinary hero like Seol Harin couldn't even imagine it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Shin Hye-won awoke.
As she pieced together the events, humiliation made her tremble.
'He hit me with that...?! How dare he defile this body......?!'
Cock punch.
Not once, but three times.
Clear-cut assault on a professor.
She wanted to dispatch the Guidance Committee and drag him in immediately, but...
'Too embarrassing...!!!'
Shin Hye-won had no desire to become famous as the professor knocked out by a male student's dick three times.
And so.
She started by silencing the students.
She half-threatened the two boys who'd carried her to keep their mouths shut.
Of course, she couldn't seal them forever...
The key was to oust Kim Taeyang as quickly as possible.
To bury her shame, she had to accelerate the timeline.
"Professor. I'm here."
"Good. Sit."
Shin Hye-won, Cloé, and Rasha-ra had gathered.
A meeting convened by Shin Hye-won herself.
"Kim Taeyang... we need to kick that bastard out......"
"I know, but the situation's bad. He's joined the Guidance Committee..."
"Hmph. Don't rush, Cloé. We'll win in the end."
Even the vice head's words failed to calm Cloé.
Kim Taeyang.
Two losses since he appeared.
Once with the whip flogging.
Once over the initiation feast.
And now, the promised Constellation swap loomed.
'If I lose this time too... it's over for me as a hero...!'
If she lost Rasha-ra too, Cloé saw no hope left.
Goddess of Punishment, Rasha-ra.
She rose gracefully in her whip form and patted Cloé's head.
"Child... don't worry... Whatever tricks that one pulls... they won't work on me..."
"Lady Rasha-ra..."
(°꒫°)...
Rasha-ra's tiny face at the whip's tip.
Her expression was resolute as ever.
No emotions leaking through.
A rock-solid trust, unyielding.
"Cloé. I proposed the swap because I trust Lady Rasha-ra. She'll never betray you. That thug becoming her hero? Not even in a parallel world."
"Yes... He's the type of hero I despise most... No need to worry..."
The vice head had a plan too.
Rasha-ra would never go to Kim Taeyang.
She despised thugs.
Pomi, on the other hand?
"But Glacis is different. She already betrayed her master once. Food, walks, attention from lots of people—plenty to steal her away."
High chance of defection.
Reasonable deduction.
She'd betrayed before, so why not again?
Of course, if they'd grasped the Constellation's traits like Kim Taeyang had, they'd never think it.
"Once we snag Glacis, leave the rest to me. I'll throw everything I have to expel him...!!"
"...Got it! I trust you, Vice Head!"
Revitalized, Cloé chattered excitedly.
"That big lug's probably strutting around smugly right now, huh?"
"Heh heh. Probably."
"What's the point of being that huge?"
"True enough."
"People need brains, not just size. All that bulk just makes you look dumb. Right?"
"...Yeah."
"No girl would want a guy that big anyway? Even a slight bump would hurt. Just a stupid giant with nothing but size going for him."
"......"
"Annoying oversized oaf. Tall, ripped, big face, huge hands, giant feet. And that massive nose..."
"C-can you stop with the 'big' talk?"
"?"
The vice head's face was flushed for some reason.
All the "big" this and "big" that reminded her of yesterday.
'It was fucking huge... Seriously fucking massive......'
Her jaw throbbed from the anaconda strike.
Anyway, it was just a mishap.
Nothing came of it, so forget it.
But... why did it keep nagging at her?
"Vice Head? You okay? Your face is red. Allergies?"
"...No. Report to me when he shows up tomorrow."
The vice head hurried away.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kim Taeyang won the Saturday initiation feast showdown.
Sunday was the calm before the storm.
Finally, Monday.
The Guidance Committee was on high alert ahead of the approaching tempest.
"That guy's actually joining the Guidance Committee..."
The members gathered in the clubroom.
Second-year Kim An-kyung clenched his fists, trembling.
"President...! We need a plan, right?! The Guidance Committee can't fall like this!! Your Constellation won't be safe!!"
"Don't worry about my Constellation. I've talked with the vice head. It'll be fine."
"R-really?"
"But we need countermeasures as the committee. To keep him from running wild... We all have to band together and stop Kim Taeyang."
Cloé's voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
'The president's... shaking?!'
The flawless Guidance Committee President Cloé.
This tense side was new to the members.
'We have to support her!'
'She's led us all this time! Our turn now!'
Seeing her shaken ignited the members' resolve...!
"We're ready!!"
"I'll offer my heart, President!!!!"
"That thug! Show him our true power and he'll whimper!!"
"We've got justice on our side!!!"
"Just give the order, President!!! Kill or be killed!!!"
"We're stronger in crises, right?! We've got your back, President!!!!"
The members' resolute cries.
Cloé's eyes welled up slightly.
"You guys... I can't even..."
"Haha...!"
As emotion swelled and eyes misted,
Crash!!!
A commotion erupted in the hallway.
Followed by shouts like "Hey! Move it!!"
'It's him...!'
The entire Guidance Committee tensed and stood.
'He's coming......!!'
Some even drew weapons.
Like soldiers awaiting a monster, resolute.
Soon, "that guy" kicked the door open.
BOOOOM────────────────────!!!
"Hey!!!! No one's gonna show the new guy around?!!!! Or are you all shaking in your boots?!!!!!!!!! Huh?!!!!!!!!!!"
"Guh...!"
"M-my eardrums...!"
His roar alone dominated the entire room with ferocious momentum!
"Just his entrance has our hair blowing back......?!!"
It was the fan, really, but the presence was monstrous!!
"Turn off the fan!!"
Matching his aura was Cloé, of course.
Thud-
Cloé Maiden stepped heavily before Kim Taeyang.
In her hand, the whip Constellation, Rasha-ra.
"Heh heh heh! Swapping Constellations!!! This is fucking exciting?!!"
"Woof!"
Kim Taeyang had brought Pomi too.
Kim Taeyang's Guidance Committee debut!
The Constellation swap was now reality!!
"Hand over that super-flexible wriggly SSS-rank leather Constellation already!!!!!!!!"
The raging storm had only just begun.