Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: McClintock Effect
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Even after the session with Luna ended, my remote counseling continued all the way into the afternoon.
Countless hunters whose faces I didn't know poured out their wounds through the screen.
Once all the sessions were over, I noticed something interesting while organizing today's records.
The ratio of anonymous to real-name users in today's remote counseling sessions.
Anonymous users overwhelmingly dominated.
About 7 to 3, if I had to quantify it?
That meant plenty of hunters found anonymous sessions unburdened and comfortable.
The contents were hard to measure numerically, but many delved into deeply personal matters.
At first, they stayed at a personal level, but...
As the sessions dragged on and time passed, there were quite a few profoundly dark stories too.
For instance, internal guild power struggles, or sexual troubles too unspeakable to voice.
Even guilt over abandoning comrades in a dungeon and fleeing.
Stories so difficult for a hunter to utter face-to-face.
Of course, a client's counseling content must be kept absolutely confidential.
Even if, by some chance, the subject were a criminal...
'...Does it really have to stay secret?'
I found myself momentarily lost in thought.
The ethical code for civilian counselors is clear.
A client's secrets must be protected unless they show signs of posing direct, immediate harm to others.
Still, there are plenty of gray areas, so it's worth considering.
Anyway, today's counseling was done.
I stood up from my chair and stretched languidly.
Not bad, all things considered.
Though it didn't quite match the efficacy of face-to-face conversations.
Just my personal opinion, of course.
Maybe because I couldn't catch the subtle shifts in expressions or gazes.
- Ring ring ring...
Then, my phone rang.
It was the team leader from the association.
I picked up my smartphone and answered.
A familiar voice came through the receiver.
"Counselor! You worked so hard today."
His tone was noticeably excited.
"It was the first day of the trial run, and... we had way more connections than expected. The server nearly crashed."
Not that it would crash even if every hunter in Korea logged on.
But it meant a ton of sign-ups, so I took it as good news.
I smiled and replied warmly.
"No need for that. It's just my job."
"Not at all. Thanks to you, so many hunters who never even had the chance before could finally unburden themselves."
I listened to his thanks and received an update on the trial run plans going forward.
For now, they'd keep the remote system running for about a week.
After that, I could judge the situation myself and balance face-to-face and remote sessions as needed.
I hung up and sat in my study, staring blankly out the window.
"......"
One last task remained.
- Tap tap tap.
I pulled out my phone and sent a message.
[Yoo Seon-woo]: Sea
The reply came instantly.
[Jin Sea]: Yeah??
[Jin Sea]: What's up? Something wrong? You hurt?
I gave a wry smile at her frantic response.
I'd promised Jahwa-yeon I'd deliver the brownie cake tomorrow.
Time to tell Jin Sea too.
About the cheesecake.
Geumgang was coming to the counseling office tomorrow anyway.
I planned to "commute" to the office starting tomorrow for the remote sessions too.
Even online, I believed work and home should be separate.
That way, I could focus entirely on counseling.
It just felt better than doing it from home all the time.
I sent the photo I'd taken earlier for Jahwa-yeon.
[Yoo Seon-woo]: (photo)
[Yoo Seon-woo]: Got time for lunch tomorrow?
[Jin Sea]: Yeah, of course!!
Perfect.
Haetae Guild's building was near the counseling office, so it'd be easy for her to drop by.
If it were farther, I'd have delivered it myself.
[Yoo Seon-woo]: Come to the office. It's a thank-you gift.
[Jin Sea]: !!!!!!! Looks delicious!
[Jin Sea]: But whose is that chocolate cake in the back?
Chocolate...?
I checked her message, then zoomed in on the photo I'd sent.
"How did she even spot that...?"
At a glance, it just looked like a mouthwatering New York-style cheesecake.
But in the background, faintly visible inside a small transparent plastic egg container, was a dark shape.
The chocolate mousse cake I'd made for Jahwa-yeon.
How on earth did she see that?
I was floored by her sharp eyes.
No need to lie, at least.
[Yoo Seon-woo]: Made that as a gift too.
[Jin Sea]: For who?
[Yoo Seon-woo]: Just someone I know lol
I hesitated briefly, then brushed it off vaguely.
She's a client, after all.
[Jin Sea]: Okay then, see you tomorrow!!
That wrapped up notifying Jin Sea.
I headed to the living room.
Now... time for a workout, I guess.
That evening.
Luna couldn't fall asleep.
Or more precisely, she couldn't drift off.
Her body was definitely exhausted.
But her mind was weirdly wide awake.
She tossed and turned in bed.
"Nngh... nngh... ahh..."
It was strange.
She wanted to sleep.
But the heat rising from her body kept getting in the way.
Something hot seemed to be welling up from deep inside.
A unfamiliar sensation she'd never felt before.
She could feel the blood in her veins rushing several times faster than usual.
That intense.
In the end, Luna kicked off the covers.
Not that it helped.
The heat was rising from within, not from outside.
Finally, utterly spent, Luna fell asleep.
And dreamed.
In the dream, she was in her teacher's counseling room.
But it wasn't the usual bright, warm space filled with that pleasant scent.
Ah, the scent was there.
Just amplified a hundredfold.
Outside the window was deep night, and only the two of them were in the room.
The teacher said nothing.
He simply gazed at her with that same gentle smile from earlier that day.
The teacher slowly approached Luna.
Then carefully reached out, stroking her cheek.
His firm, warm hand trailed from her cheek, down her nape, to her greatest source of shame: her pure white rabbit ears.
"Hah...!"
A hot, wet moan escaped Luna's lips.
Even in the dream, the sensation felt too vivid.
He gripped her ear with irresistible force.
Her delicate ear trembled in his grasp.
"Ah... ah... Teacher..."
Luna threw herself into his arms.
His embrace carried a sweet fragrance.
He slowly stroked her small back.
Then whispered in her ear.
"It's okay."
"Nothing to be ashamed of."
Not shameful.
It's okay.
Not a bad feeling.
Exactly what the teacher had said that afternoon.
At that voice, the last thread of Luna's rationality snapped.
Luna stripped off the teacher's shirt.
"Teacher..."
And... the counseling room filled with scorching heat.
- Jolt!
Luna woke up.
Her entire body was drenched in sweat.
Truly, head to toe.
The pajamas she wore clung to her skin, soaked through.
The sheets stuck damply to her in a bizarre sensation.
"......"
Luna's flushed face recalled the vivid dream she'd just had.
The teacher's gentle voice.
His firm body.
Even his sweet scent.
Luna collapsed back onto the bed, helpless.
Her face burned so hot it felt like it might explode any second.
"Th-this... why..."
It was a phenomenon she'd never experienced in her life.
One she'd thought she'd never encounter.
Luna cautiously got out of bed.
She looked down at the spot where she'd lain.
The sheets were soaked.
Completely.
And oddly, describing her current state, she even felt a bit refreshed.
A languid sense of release, like discarding something long suppressed.
Honestly speaking.
Luna knew exactly what this phenomenon was.
A somewhat—no, extremely, extremely, extremely lewd dream.
Complete with the sensation of her whole body heating up.
This was... something every beastkin inevitably experiences at some point.
But she, having suppressed all her instincts under the Empire's oppression and the dimensional transfer, had never once gone through this physiological response.
It was.
The precursor symptom of estrus.
"Kyaaah!!"
The moment she realized it, Luna screamed and bolted upright.
- Gasp!
But she instantly thought of Elise next door and clamped her mouth shut with both hands.
'She didn't hear, right...?'
If she were awake, she'd have heard for sure.
Even if not, she might have just woken up.
"......"
No reaction, though. She must be sleeping soundly.
Luna moved stealthily, like a stray cat—no, a thieving rabbit.
She swiftly stripped the damp sheets stained with evidence.
Then dashed to the laundry room.
She had to erase these traces fast.
She peeled the sheets off the bed and headed to the laundry room.
Wash it all, shower quick.
But the moment she entered the laundry room.
Her plan went awry from the start.
- Whirr...
The washing machine was already humming away powerfully.
"......?"
Luna peered inside.
Mysterious bed sheets were spinning.
- Splash...
And from the bathroom, the sound of someone showering.
Probably Elise.
Luna had no choice but to stuff her sheets and pajamas into the laundry basket.
Right then.
Her fingertips brushed something else already in the basket.
"......"
Luna carefully pulled it out.
Familiar silk pajamas.
Elise's.
But those pajamas too.
Were soaked just like hers.
"Wha...?"
Luna stared blankly at the sweat-drenched pajamas.