Chapter 152
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: System Algorithm #3: Client L
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- Click.
The door shut.
Yi Seo-ryeong slowly lifted her head.
She repeatedly let out rough breaths and drew them back in.
"Haa... haa...."
Yi Seo-ryeong realized it.
Probably.
In all the time she'd lived so far.
And even in the future.
Her heart could never beat this madly fast.
- Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The heartbeat echoing in her ears didn't feel like it could be hers.
She had spent her entire life on the battlefield.
Even when blades grazed her throat or assassins targeted her heart, her pulse had always remained cool.
But not now.
Being held in a man's arms was a first in her life.
Forced into submission by someone's power and dragged here—another first.
And... her heart pounding like it would burst in front of this man—yet another first.
She hadn't even realized it herself.
But in truth, Yoo Seon-woo perfectly matched Yi Seo-ryeong's ideal type.
Not just his appearance... but his confident demeanor as well.
A being who could swing her around, pin her down, and dominate her in every other sense.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Probably.
Even if he tossed her onto the bed right now, ripped her clothes off, and pinned her beneath his firm body, she wouldn't resist.
The thought of resistance wouldn't even cross her mind.
A ragged moan would likely be the only defiance he'd allow.
In the end, Yi Seo-ryeong bit her lip and quietly awaited her fate.
However.
"Ma'am."
Contrary to her expectations.
Yoo Seon-woo led her not to the bed, but to the chair in the middle of the room.
He grasped her shoulders... and gently seated her.
"......Huh?"
Yi Seo-ryeong blankly opened her eyes.
Yoo Seon-woo bent down to her eye level and flashed a bright smile.
"Your expression doesn't look great."
He whispered softly.
"Are you nervous? Or..."
Yoo Seon-woo's gentle gaze trailed from top to bottom.
It wasn't the crude, sticky stares she'd felt from other men.
Dry and transparent.
Yet somehow.
She felt as if her clothes were being stripped away.
A feeling of being utterly exposed.
"Were you expecting something else?"
"......!"
Yi Seo-ryeong's shoulders twitched.
"Just kidding."
Confirming her reaction, he smiled satisfactorily and sat at the desk opposite her.
Only then did the room's scenery properly enter Yi Seo-ryeong's view.
Soft lighting, comfortable furniture arrangement, and even the faint scent of air freshener in the air.
It seemed far removed from a confinement or torture chamber.
It just looked like a counseling room.
"I heard it's your favorite scent."
It was spot on.
A precious fragrance she cherished for relieving stress.
"Yuwol told me."
They'd already shared such deep conversations?
Yuwol wasn't the type to get close to people easily.
Yet, already...
A pang stung at a corner of Yi Seo-ryeong's heart.
"I was planning to contact you tomorrow morning right away, but I didn't expect you'd come so urgently."
Yoo Seon-woo placed his interlaced hands on the table and gazed at her leisurely.
"What's going on?"
The moment she met that gaze, Yi Seo-ryeong's pride stirred.
I'm the leader of one of Korea's massive guilds and the Alliance Leader of the Azure Heaven Alliance.
There was no reason for her, who had come as her daughter's guardian, to shrink like this before a mere man.
- Squeeze...
In the end, she pinched her thigh to steady her nerves.
"......You asked what's going on?"
Yi Seo-ryeong snapped her head up.
Forcing strength into her jaw to mask her trembling voice, she spoke haughtily.
She tried her best to harden her expression and confront the man before her.
"I'm that child's mother. Her one and only blood relative, her guardian. So why... why have you forbidden visits and blocked access?!"
Gathering her courage, she stared straight into Yoo Seon-woo's eyes.
She channeled her inner energy to pressure him.
But.
"Ah......"
His languid gaze.
The instant their eyes locked head-on.
Her pupils shook.
Far from questioning him, it overwhelmed her.
'Don't hold your head up so stiffly.'
It felt like someone was whispering that to her.
Even though no one was.
Perhaps it was the instinct as a woman of the Central Plains, deeply rooted and hidden within her.
The very instinct she'd tried so desperately to erase.
'......Yes.'
In the end, Yi Seo-ryeong couldn't hold out for three seconds.
She hurriedly averted her gaze and bowed her head deeply.
This won't do. It's impossible to stand equal.
Her broadly squared shoulders rounded inward...
And her hands clasped under the table trembled.
To apologize for her rudeness, she'd gladly offer her cheek.
Yi Seo-ryeong thought instinctively.
She had no choice but to accept the slap.
"I'm sorry."
However.
This time, there was no scolding or mockery as she'd expected.
He bowed his head politely.
"You've been through a lot mentally. I should have contacted you sooner to ease your mind... but the procedures took too long."
Instead, he comforted Yi Seo-ryeong and continued gently.
"......Ah? Yes...?"
Yi Seo-ryeong's head lifted.
Her eyes still shook.
It didn't make sense.
She was the one who should apologize for boldly meeting his eyes so insolently.
Yet the man before her was bowing and apologizing to her.
As a woman, she'd been prepared to offer her cheek to him without question, so why?
Suddenly, the atmosphere turned affectionate.
And then.
'Ah....'
A novel sense of happiness surged up her spine.
'He's respecting me.'
A woman he could easily crush.
Yet he was treating her with such decorum.
The pleasure from that fact was unbearably sweet.
Without realizing it, Yi Seo-ryeong was becoming the devoted wife who accepted her beatings.
"Yuwol... was in a very unstable state."
He lifted his head, gazing at Yi Seo-ryeong with soft eyes.
"Her memories weren't intact... To be honest, her relationship with her mother was a concern. That's why we delayed meetings until her condition improved."
"Ah... I see...."
"But seeing you come here so late, filled with affection, makes me think I worried needlessly. I can feel your love for her from here."
He smiled brightly, driving the point home.
From that single short phrase, Yi Seo-ryeong keenly felt how deeply he had looked into her daughter.
He had already perfectly grasped the invisible rift between mother and daughter.
In truth, she had never been a good parent to Seol Yu-wol.
Under the pretext of grooming a successor, she'd been harsh and never offered a single warm word.
He had read those wounds left in her daughter's heart, which was why he'd delayed meetings out of concern for "her relationship with her mother."
Not to exclude her, but to protect her daughter.
How could someone who had pondered and considered so sincerely and meticulously do such a thing?
I suspected him...
Guilt washed over her.
Objectively speaking, there were plenty of suspicious signs. Her daughter's naked body asleep on the sofa, the red lip marks on her nape, the musky scent lingering in the room.
But Yi Seo-ryeong's defenses had already crumbled.
She chose to trust the stability and happiness this man brought over the evidence.
"Have some of this at least."
Yoo Seon-woo picked up the teapot on the table and tried to pour warm tea into an empty cup.
"I-I'll do it!"
Yi Seo-ryeong startled and reflexively rose from her seat.
But.
- Smooth.
- Pat pat...
He gently took the cup and poured it.
Then he carefully slid the steaming cup toward her.
"You must be tired from coming here. Please, drink comfortably."
"......Th-thank you."
Yi Seo-ryeong received the teacup politely with both hands.
Kind and gentle.
Was it okay to treat her this well?
Elation and guilt intertwined, stimulating Yi Seo-ryeong.
After that, stories about her daughter flowed from the counselor's lips.
Tales of how she'd regained her vitality making friends her age in the Otherworlder community.
Of topping the Otherworlder settlement written exam.
The foods she liked in this world.
The foods she disliked.
When praising her daughter, he smiled warmly, seeming pleased.
When mentioning foods she hated, he couldn't hold back his laughter.
From his expressions, his tone, she gradually sensed it.
That he wasn't simply dealing with her daughter out of duty.
How meticulously he'd observed her, cherished her, and viewed her with affection.
Even the remnants of anxiety in her heart fully melted away.
"Hahaha!"
His hearty laughter filled the room.
Yi Seo-ryeong, too, wore a shy smile on her lips.
The two were rapidly growing closer, sharing all sorts of trivial and varied stories about Seol Yu-wol.
Having regained her composure, she cautiously posed a question to the man before her.
Of course, politely, without rudeness.
"I heard Yuwol takes to you a lot."
"Yes. She does."
Yoo Seon-woo answered without hesitation.
Firm and confident.
From that assured attitude, Yi Seo-ryeong felt a strange sense of stability.
"She seems to think of me like a father."
"......"
The follow-up remark crossed a line with its intense wording.
It probably shouldn't come from a counselor's mouth.
He should have drawn a boundary.
Yet Yoo Seon-woo's gaze didn't waver.
And Yi Seo-ryeong's heart pounded fiercely upon hearing it.
The two might already be heading somewhere together.
"......That's happy news."
She shyly lowered her head.
And instinctively realized.
If her daughter gained a father.
What did that mean for her, the mother?
At the moment that taboo thought made her heart feel like it would stop.
- Creeak...
Then, the door opened from behind.
Yi Seo-ryeong startled and whipped her head around.
"Mother...?"
There stood Seol Yu-wol, rubbing her eyes as if just woken from sleep.
She had loosely draped only a thin blanket over her body.
"Yuwol...!"
Yi Seo-ryeong reflexively jumped up and ran to her daughter.
She embraced her tightly with trembling arms.
"......"
"......"
Their warm body heat met.
And.
Yi Seo-ryeong realized.
Ah.
My suspicions were right.
The bite marks engraved on Seol Yu-wol's visible nape.
And.
- Sniff sniff.
Yi Seo-ryeong's nose.
Even standing still... it tingled.
The scent of the counselor she'd been facing until moments ago.
It was emanating from Seol Yu-wol's body.
Thickly soaked in.
Seol Yu-wol realized it too.
That her embracing mother was smelling the odor coming from her body right now.
And that her mother's body was trembling.
"......Mother."
Seol Yu-wol looked up at Yi Seo-ryeong with drowsy eyes and whispered.
"Yes...?"
- Thump, thump, thump.
Through their touching chests, her mother's heartbeat transmitted over.
"Your heart's beating so fast...."
"Ah......"
But Seol Yu-wol didn't condemn her.
Instead, she giggled and whispered in her mother's ear.
"The scent... nice, right...?"
"......Yes."
In the end.
So that's how it is.
- Step step.
At that moment, someone approached the embracing mother and daughter.
She didn't need to turn to know.
A massive shadow had already enveloped them.
The master of this house.
And now, the man who would become family to the two women.
"......Let's go, Mother."
Seol Yu-wol's eyes grew wet.
"Dad's waiting."
"Alright...."
If that's what you wish, no helping it.
Yi Seo-ryeong and Seol Yu-wol simultaneously reached out toward Yoo Seon-woo looking down at them.
- Grip.
Yoo Seon-woo firmly grasped the two women's hands.
At that grip strength, Yi Seo-ryeong's entire body trembled.
She was slowly led by his hand.
And... she vowed deeply in her heart.
Not as Alliance Leader, not as a Hunter, but as one woman.
'I will serve faithfully.'
My husband.