Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Pay Your Interest in Semen
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"By the way, honey. Why did you lend such a huge sum to that guy named Jung Jin-hyuk?"
Lee Sun-young sat down beside her husband, her red hair swaying lightly.
A suspicious stranger had shown up out of nowhere, borrowed a ton of money, and vanished. She voiced her doubts, brimming with questions.
"Who is this guy? Is his identity legit? Or does he have a lot of money...? Or maybe he has wide connections?"
"Hm, nothing like that. Just someone I knew." Jo Joo-yeop gazed into his wife's eyes as he replied.
"Someone you already knew?"
"Yeah, an old friend I knew well." Jo Joo-yeop answered with eerie certainty.
"Really? How come I've never heard of him...?"
Her head tilted in confusion, and he chuckled.
"It'd been ages since we last met. You wouldn't know him."
"I see... But you're not the type to just hand out money to anyone claiming to be a friend, right? Does he even have the means to pay it back?"
At her worried question, Jo Joo-yeop smiled and responded.
"Hm, Jin-hyuk probably can't pay it back."
"Huh? Then why... did you lend it to him?"
"Because it seemed like he couldn't." Jo Joo-yeop stroked the purring cat as he spoke.
"Huh?"
Lee Sun-young approached him as he sat there and placed her hand on his, demanding more explanation.
"Jung Jin-hyuk didn't look like he could repay it on his own." Jo Joo-yeop gazed down at the people from his high-rise office as he said it.
"If he lacks the ability... why?"
"Jung Jin-hyuk can't pay it back... but the two women with him seemed useful. I'll collect from them." A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Two women?"
"Yeah, two women. My ability, [Value Judgment], showed that the silhouettes behind him held far greater worth than he did."
He trusted that value.
"It'd be nice if he pays, but if not, we have ways." Her husband flashed a malice-filled smile.
"Ah, so if he can't pay..."
"Yeah, we'd collect from those two. If their beauty gives them high value, we sell them as high-class whores or into AV. If their strength is what makes them valuable, we ship them off as mercenaries to the Third World."
His ruthless answer sent a chilling thrill through Lee Sun-young. The man I'd chosen was truly a villain without blood or tears.
Even merciless to an old friend...
My own lovable little villain.
"It's an amusing plan... but will those two women really go along with it?"
"Yeah, I peeked at the bond connecting them to Jung Jin-hyuk, and it's incredibly tight."
"It reminded me of how you and I were connected when we first met."
"Heh, really...?"
Jo Joo-yeop focused on his work. Lee Sun-young watched her husband with adoring eyes.
Stroking his thigh, she murmured,
"Watching you work like this... it's getting me a little excited..."
"How about tonight...?" Her hand climbed his thigh, aiming to tease his manhood.
Jo Joo-yeop paused, sighed, and said,
"Hold on." He pushed her hand away with a calm tone.
"...Ah."
She couldn't hide her disappointment at the blunt rejection.
"Honey, I really, truly love you... but after we, y'know, make love... I can't do anything."
As if to soothe his sulking wife, Jo Joo-yeop began comforting her in a warm voice.
"Yeah... I know..."
With his frail body, Jo Joo-yeop couldn't keep up with his thirty-something wife's libido.
After a passionate night, he'd be so drained that work the next day suffered badly.
"This is a crucial time for growing the business. Remember our promise?"
"Yeah, once a month..." Lee Sun-young mumbled awkwardly.
"But once a month is too little..." Suppressing her embarrassment, she tried persuading him again.
"Just for today, it should be fine, right?"
"I promise, once the business stabilizes, I'll spend whatever it takes to satisfy you."
Even at her pleading, Jo Joo-yeop put her off with a "later."
"...The business seems plenty big already..."
"Haha, you know as well as I do. This scale of capital is cute compared to the 'real' players. You believe in my dream and support me, right? Let's hold out a bit longer."
Comforting his whining wife, Jo Joo-yeop asked her to endure just a little more.
"Okay, got it... I'll help even harder too."
"I love you, Sun-young." As if wrapping up the talk, Jo Joo-yeop professed his love, then turned back to his papers.
...If you love me, then now...
"Yeah, me too... I'll go do some work..." Hiding her true feelings, Lee Sun-young suppressed her desires for her husband's sake.
Leaving her immersed-in-work husband behind, she headed out to harass some debtors.
She vented her unquenched hot urges on them.
Jung Jin-hyuk, whom she'd met to collect on the debt, was even more pathetic than expected.
His physique and balance were excellent, but that was it. His mana control—the truly important part—was laughable.
The amount of mana in his body was substantial, thanks to guzzling mana water like it was nothing. But his skill in handling that vast mana was abysmal.
Judging by his age, he'd awakened quite a while ago, yet this level of growth? He should find another path.
On top of that, wasting a great talent like [Ability Analysis] by stubbornly trying to get stronger.
A man who paled in comparison to her husband. He could've grown plenty without combat-related gifts, just like her husband.
All he'd done with the borrowed money was chug mana water to boost his mana capacity or blow it on suspicious luxuries like candles.
A pathetic live-in mooch at his girlfriend's place. A wastrel squandering cash on dreams of becoming the strongest.
That was her objective assessment of Jung Jin-hyuk. Her husband's judgment was spot-on. Utterly incompetent.
"Haha, what can we do? You came all this way, but I can't pay today's interest either."
Jung Jin-hyuk grinned as he explained why he couldn't pay again.
"Like any investment, results take time, right?"
"No concrete results yet. My apologies." He looked utterly unremorseful, brazenly replying without a hint of shame.
"...Even for your husband's sake, my patience has limits, Jin-hyuk."
Even under her icy glare, he kept smirking like something was hilarious and pressed on.
"Still, give me a bit more time. I lit expensive incense and prepared tea because you were coming, didn't I?"
His cheeky nonchalance grated on her.
"...Instead of preparing this welcome, hurry up and show results. All I want is for this debt to end soon."
Thick-skinned as ever, he grinned slyly even at her sarcasm.
"But this tea and incense are pretty good, aren't they?"
Sipping the tea, she replied,
"They are... Feels like high-end stuff."
It annoyed her, but the tea and the odd aroma filling the room suited her tastes perfectly.
Every time she came to collect interest, Jung Jin-hyuk invited her inside, asking her to wait just a moment.
Unwilling to refuse her husband's friend, she'd accepted, and now got tea every visit.
The incense scent permeating the house, once familiar and now comforting.
At first, the intense aroma had given her headaches, feeling alien and oppressive. But now, the hazy relaxation from the candles was a pleasure.
"Where'd you get this tea and incense? I tried looking but couldn't find any."
"Haha, I had them custom-made just for you, Sun-young. Hard to find elsewhere."
She wanted to slap the beaming, pitying grin off his face.
"Hmph. Spending time on hospitality instead of repaying the debt, huh?"
"Cut me some slack, Sun-young. It's almost there..."
His consistent playfulness pushed her patience to the brink, heat rising in anger.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Releasing the pent-up killing intent, she closed in on Jung Jin-hyuk.
"Uh, um... Sorry, Sun-young. The mood was too stiff, so..."
His face stiffened into a forced smile.
"How long do you think 'husband's friend' will protect you?"
"I just..." Seeing him slip back into playfulness, she grabbed his throat.
"Do I look like I'm joking? Do I look idle?"
Only then did fear flicker across his face.
Pathetic trash...
Unlike her husband, no ferocity, no charisma.
Embarrassing to even compare.
After savoring his choking expression briefly, she shook off her hand and issued her ultimatum.
"...Sorry for getting physical. But today, I must collect the interest."
"Haha... I told you, no money..."
Still grinning like he hadn't snapped out of it. At that attitude, she decided on drastic measures.
"No money... but there are other ways to pay, aren't there?"
"...Pardon?"
"Today, you'll lose something precious."
At her cold declaration, he finally grasped reality, his face paling.
"What? No, that's...!"
"Scared now, all of a sudden?"
She bound him with the mana rope her husband had gifted.
"Untie... this...!"
After restraining him, she pondered his punishment.
Beating him senseless to jolt him awake would be satisfying.
Slicing thin lines across his body with the knife at her waist, leaving shallow cuts everywhere, sounded fun.
...But now was time for collection, not just threats. And wasn't there a more fitting way for this man?
"Hm, this is on you."
She yanked down his pants, leaving him unable to resist while bound.
He struggled briefly, then stopped thrashing upon realizing escape was impossible.
"Realized resistance is futile, huh? Heh."
"That precious [semen] you need for your girlfriend? I'll collect it."
At her calm mockery, he finally comprehended, hanging his head.
"I'll milk it all out with my mouth and digest every drop uselessly."
Fury at the unbelievable humiliation flushed his face with blood.
Hah, even if you rage, there's nothing you can do~?
Couldn't see his expression, but it must be utter despair.
Having his cherished semen stolen by someone he didn't love.
The worst collection method a man could imagine.
"This month's interest will be paid in semen."
Savoring the rising pleasure from tormenting him, she began pulling off his underwear.