Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Taming the Milk Cow
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I was pretty flustered when the connection to Seon-woo's house got cut off.
Without any warning.
It just happened out of nowhere.
The woman sucking on her candy so sensually while declaring war on me looked awfully familiar.
No, she was identical.
To that little kid from before.
[Lose just like always...]
'How did she know...?'
I was curious how she knew what Jin Sea usually enjoyed, but more importantly, the connection to Seon-woo had been severed.
In the end, Jin Sea made contact with her again sooner than expected.
And this was the current situation.
Her mental world.
Sitting brazenly in front of Jin Sea was the grown-up version of the milk cow pajamas kid.
"Top 5 recent thoughts of client Jin Sea."
She chattered away from her chair.
She'd gotten bigger, but her antics were still childish.
"'Wonder what color Seon-woo's panties are today.' 'Is Seon-woo an alpha? I wish he was for me too...' 'I want to retire and get pregnant...'"
"I get it. I get it."
Jin Sea cut her off, pressing her throbbing temple.
She's keep showing off.
"So why did you call me here?"
The woman propped her chin on her hand and asked boldly.
That chin-propping pose... it felt so familiar.
It was the exact pose Jin Sea struck every day when thinking about Seon-woo.
"First off, what should I call you?"
Jin Sea asked while trying to stay composed.
From what she knew so far... this thing was the system.
"System...?"
"No."
The woman in front of her suddenly turned serious.
"That's a title only the user can use."
Then she continued.
"So what should I call you?"
"......"
"......?"
She'd set the mood, at least.
But she hadn't thought about what to be called.
Her eyes started darting around.
"Status window?"
"No!"
"Taeye?"
"No!!"
"What am I supposed to do then."
Jin Sea sighed as she looked at her.
"...Just call me Status Window then."
"Okay."
In the end, she conceded one thing.
She could clearly see that Seon-woo called it the system... so Status Window was acceptable, apparently.
Jin Sea decided to go along with it.
For now, at least.
"Anyway..."
Jin Sea got straight to the point.
"You can't undo the firewall, right?"
It was about the connection.
"I have a duty to protect Seon-woo from threats. That's why I designed those measures for his house."
Jin Sea glanced at the woman in the sexy milk cow costume.
"It's not that I don't trust you, but you might not be able to protect him from every external threat."
And then she poked at a sore spot.
"...Like with Baek Si-eun."
You said you'd protect her, but you couldn't, right?
The Status Window's eyes twitched.
"So, can't you help me out?"
Framing it as 'protecting Seon-woo,' Jin Sea made her proposal.
"I'm not asking you to help me. Let's protect Seon-woo together."
Jin Sea was certain.
Considering the user's safety, it couldn't refuse this.
"...Hmph."
The Status Window snorted.
"Baek Si-eun was my mistake. I was still a bit weak back then."
"So you're saying you're fine on your own now."
"And this barrier is for protection?"
"Yes."
Then the Status Window pulled up the data it had analyzed on the barrier.
Client Jin Sea's Seon-woo Protection Barrier
[1. Perimeter Surveillance]
[2. Forced Teleport]
[3. 24/7 Omnidirectional Monitoring]
[4. Biometric Signal Monitoring]
It was a detailed analysis report.
Jin Sea jolted to her feet and scanned the list.
Then she sighed in relief.
"...See? Isn't it thorough?"
"Flip it over."
"Huh?"
Jin Sea flinched and turned the paper around.
Client Jin Sea's Seon-woo Protection Barrier Backdoor Protocols
[2. Forced Teleport (In emergencies, instantly summon user to 'Jin Sea's Bedroom')]
[3. Female Proximity Alert (Warning if any woman other than Jin Sea stays over 1 hour)]
[4. 24/7 Voice Surveillance (All area audio data stored. Access times: usually 11 PM to 1 AM)]
"And you set up backdoors like this?"
"......"
Busted.
"No video, sure. But audio? And access at 11 PM usually. Looks like you're listening to shower sounds..."
"Ha... fine."
Jin Sea finally raised the white flag.
It knew everything.
From the looks of it, it might even know her sexual preferences.
The silver lining was that while the house connection was cut, it hadn't breached the wards she'd set up yet.
At least her true feelings toward Seon-woo wouldn't leak.
Jin Sea asked once more.
"...So what exactly are you?"
This wasn't a normal system.
She'd never seen or heard of anything like it.
"I'm the user's assistant."
She gave a bland answer while hugging a milk cow doll she'd gotten from somewhere.
"I know that much."
"You love the user, right, Jin Sea?"
The woman suddenly asked seriously.
"Yeah."
Jin Sea answered promptly.
No need to hesitate there.
"Probably... soon..."
"The user will awaken another new ability soon."
"Another one?"
It hadn't been long since Seon-woo's first awakening.
And now another one already...?
"When that happens... the user will be really confused."
"Why?"
What was confusing about awakening an ability?
"Because around the user, there are only people like you, Jin Sea."
"What?"
Jin Sea's eyes darkened.
She couldn't let that slide.
She'd already noticed women viewing Seon-woo rationally.
S-Rank Hunter Luna... and that annoying Mary.
But they were like her?
Jin Sea understood what that meant.
And... she'd somewhat anticipated it.
"How many?"
The woman shrugged with an infuriating grin.
"Who knows. The user is just that attractive."
I know.
She knew Seon-woo was attractive.
So she'd always figured plenty of women would flock to him.
It twisted her guts, but Seon-woo mattered more.
No need to answer that.
No need to apply her world's norms here, but polygamy was common.
Fine, whatever.
But this had been bugging her for a while.
"Does Seon-woo know about you?"
It didn't add up.
If it harbored ill will toward her, it could just tell Seon-woo.
No need to flaunt its feelings like this; it could just block her completely.
But the woman in front of her didn't seem to have any such intentions.
For the first time, the milk cow pajama-clad Status Window's shoulders stiffened at her question.
She looked flustered.
"O-of course? The user and I have a close bond... we sleep together... he even bakes me cakes..."
"That you're a person. He doesn't, does he."
A system being a person?
That didn't make sense.
Besides, baking cakes?
Sleeping together?
It might mimic a personality, but this was ridiculous.
The Status Window failed to respond for the first time.
A smile crept onto Jin Sea's lips.
It kept trying to stay one step ahead with info and pressure.
But it didn't seem intent on cornering her.
More like... taming her?
Like an empress asserting dominance over a consort?
Its true nature was still murky.
"Ugh..."
The Status Window's body trembled slightly under Jin Sea's piercing smile.
In the end, it started making the same sounds as the kid version from before.
Jin Sea smiled and stood up.
Then she dragged her chair over and sat beside the milk cow.
"Taeye, you don't hate me, right?"
"......Ugh... Y-yes..."
'Good.'
As expected, it didn't hate her.
It'd be trouble if the thing stuck to Seon-woo 24/7 hated her.
Fortunately, it didn't.
"Alright, let's talk slowly then."
Jin Sea gently patted the Status Window's head.
"I was too harsh back then, wasn't I?"
"Yes..."
"So you felt hurt?"
"Yes......"
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
The mood softened as she apologized.
"I like Seon-woo. You do too, right?"
"Yes... I want the user to succeed."
"Right? Then you know how much I love Seon-woo."
"I know..."
It's going well. Jin Sea thought inwardly and decided to coax her more.
"I've known Seon-woo the longest, after all. He'd be most comfortable with me."
"Mary met him first..."
Daring to fact-check her.
- Poke.
"Eep."
Jin Sea poked the Status Window's chest.
"She's ugly, isn't she?"
"......?"
Jin Sea continued.
She gently stroked her head again, speaking in a kind, sisterly tone.
"She's kinda unstable, you know? Rude too."
"......But she cooks well."
Cooking was Jin Sea's Achilles' heel.
She poked the Status Window's chest again.
- Poke.
"Hey now."
"Ugh..."
"But what about me? I'm stable. I'm going to be a top-10 guild master. And pretty too?"
"......"
Jin Sea snapped her fingers lightly.
This was her mental world.
In an instant, her outfit changed.
To black transparent lingerie that blatantly revealed her body's curves.
"Seon-woo loves this outfit the most. You know that, right?"
According to Jin Sea's thorough investigation.
The Status Window looked her over and stuck out her tongue.
Correct. It was the user's favorite outfit. How did she know?
"So for Seon-woo to be happiest, shouldn't I be the one by his side?"
That was the conclusion.
The Status Window finally got it and narrowed her eyes at Jin Sea.
"So... if you put in a good word for me? Hmm?"
Jin Sea called to her again.
But the Status Window whipped her head away.
She'd almost fallen for it.
"Oh?! The user's calling. Gotta go!"
"Huh?"
The Status Window shot up from her chair.
Jin Sea nearly toppled over.
"And I'm impartial! I can't take sides!"
"Sides with what?"
"And..."
The Status Window was already about to be ejected from the mental world.
She hugged her milk cow doll and spat out one last line.
"You're a slut after all."
She vanished before Jin Sea's eyes.
"......Did I fail?"
Jin Sea felt like she'd let a fish slip away just as she was about to reel it in.
