Chapter 2: My Equipment... Picks a Fight?

"Cheolgeomi, get over here."

"What's wrong with you? Creep."

I grabbed Cheolgeomi's wrist and laid her down on the bed.

Calling me a creep or not, she didn't refuse.

And so Cheolgeomi lay there, staring up at me.

-Gulp.

Now — how did I do this last time?

Looking down at her pinned beneath me, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do.

For starters, those wide, blinking eyes were a problem.

"Um... could you close your eyes?"

"O... okay."

Was this really the girl who'd been cursing me out earlier, calling me a bastard?

Why so meek all of a sudden?

"But hey..."

"Yeah?"

"Am I selling you too?"

"...Huh?"

"Aren't you going to sell me?"

The moment I looked at Cheolgeomi, that blue text appeared in front of her belly again.

Status view.

Nineteen more copies.

Nineteen times fifty thousand won.

Nine hundred fifty thousand won.

"Like hell I'm selling you."

"Huh?"

For an instant, something like light flickered in Cheolgeomi's flat, listless eyes.

"You're the one making me money."

"...Oh. Right."

I could hardly slit the belly of the goose that laid my golden eggs.

"..."

For just a heartbeat, Cheolgeomi's face crumpled.

A shallow crease between her brows.

It smoothed away quickly enough, though.

"Hurry up and do it... I'll give birth to it for you."

Cheolgeomi lay with her eyes closed.

Her eyelashes trembled faintly.

Even trying to recall yesterday's moment, nothing surfaced. I'd believed I was trapped inside some ghost story, believed it was a room I couldn't leave without having sex — so I'd barely been in my right mind at the time.

This time was different.

I knew what kind of place this room was, I knew who the woman in front of me was, and I knew what I'd come here to do. If I wanted out, all I had to do was say so.

Stay calm.

One deep breath.

-Whoosh.

Cheolgeomi slowly spread her knees.

As if to say, hurry up and get in.

-Squelch.

"...Ngh."

A short sound escaped her lips.

Did that mean good, or painful?

No idea. All I knew about this came from videos.

-Creak.

Every time I moved my hips, Cheolgeomi's body slid a little further up the bed. Slender arms. Small breasts. Scratch marks along her ribs. The dark smudge beneath her collarbone was still there too.

I'd assumed she'd be cold, being a sword, but she wasn't — she was warm as a living human body.

Inside she was hot and tight. Every time I pushed in, the walls clung to me; every time I pulled back, they followed as if reluctant to let go.

That part was the same as yesterday.

Same body — only the face was different.

...It's different from yesterday.

Yesterday something had definitely popped up. A notification had appeared too. Something about a "factor."

Right now, nothing.

Cheolgeomi kept her eyes shut the whole time. I'd been the one who told her to close them, and she'd obeyed to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠letter — not a single peek.

Brows faintly knit, lips pressed firmly together. Even the fingers gripping the sheet held ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no strength.

"Does it hurt?"

"...No."

"Then why's your face like that?"

"It's just how I look."

She answered with her eyes still closed, so I couldn't read her at all.

Am I bad at this?

With no one to compare against, there was no way to tell.

Think about it — of course. A hopeless loser who'd never so much as held a girl's hand.

Help me, teachers inside my screen!

I dredged up everything I'd seen in videos. Change the angle, change the speed, change the depth. Shallow. Deep. Shallow again.

Cheolgeomi's expression didn't budge. The crease in her brow neither smoothed out nor deepened.

Ngh.

The signals were starting, at least. However deadpan her reactions, the inside of her was warm and supple.

That familiar sensation, starting from my lower belly and climbing up along my spine.

It's coming.

That exact instant —

A window I'd never seen before appeared at the bottom of my vision.

...What?

Factor. The word I'd only glimpsed yesterday.

First Strike Amplification.

There was no time to think. The end was already right in front of me.

Inject.

I mouthed it clearly in my head.

"Ugh—!"

Gasping for breath, I scanned the notifications.

A level up.

The woman herself hadn't opened her eyes once. Whether she knew she'd leveled or not, who could say.

The pregnancy gauge sat at 1,000. Yesterday it had filled all at once.

Must have been a virginity bonus or something.

Today was just an ordinary day's work. An ordinary man's ordinary finish.

The blue text appeared before Cheolgeomi's belly again.

I pressed it.

That line wasn't there last time.

Injected Factor. Yesterday I hadn't even known it existed. The sword born yesterday had come into the world without that line.

A factor... it's called a factor?

I turned my memory inside out. That day, when my mind had been a complete blank. Just before I collapsed, something unknown had appeared — and now I remembered what it said.

Ah...!

That was it.

That was the moment water burst from the unconscious Cheolgeomi's pussy — and that notification had appeared.

So the condition for acquiring a factor is Cheolgeomi's climax.

Which meant, in summary:

When Cheolgeomi came, a factor appeared. That factor was absorbed into me, and the next time I came, I could inject it. And whatever I injected would come out attached to something. Probably.

"Um... if you're done... could you get off me?"

Only then did I notice Cheolgeomi squirming uncomfortably beneath me.

So I'd just been staring blankly into space after finishing.

"Oh... sorry."

"Yeah."

-Shlip.

The moment I pulled my cock out of her, cum came trickling out after it.

"..."

"..."

Awkward silence.

What am I supposed to do at a time like this?

This was excruciating. What was I supposed to say? Was it good? I'd heard this part wasn't supposed to be great. And Cheolgeomi's expression certainly didn't look pleased.

As I sat there stewing in the awkward aftermath, my original purpose came back to me.

"Right. The second one."

Obsessed with that word "factor," I hadn't filled the pregnancy gauge at all.

Looking down to go another round —

-Drop.

my cock was hanging limp.

I need to get her pregnant, and fast.

Getting it up was supposedly the woman's job. And I happened to know how to handle this situation. The teachers in those videos taught me.

"Cheolgeom."

"Hm?"

"Get it up."

"Get what up?"

Cheolgeomi looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Here."

I pointed at my cock with my hand.

"...How?"

"With your mouth."

Cheolgeomi's face clouded with open displeasure.

"...No."

Huh?

Refused.

Come to think of it, Cheolgeomi was never a meek girl. She'd been calling me a bastard and worse not long ago. I'd briefly misread a moment of softness as her true nature.

"...Hey."

"...What?"

"Do as you're told."

Girls like this needed a firm hand.

Cheolgeomi was my equipment. Not some girlfriend. She should obviously be listening to me.

"...No."

"Hurry up."

"...I said NO, you bastard! I spread my legs for you, didn't I? I let you finish, didn't I?!"

Excuse me, this bitch?

"Last time my head was all fuzzy and it actually felt good, so I lay there quietly hoping I'd get that feeling again — and then what?"

"..."

"It just hurt, and it wasn't good at all. And now you want what? Me sucking you hard? You've got some nerve."

Ah.

Now the puzzle pieces clicked together.

This bitch hadn't been being considerate of me. She'd simply enjoyed the pleasure.

I was the real bastard here, for briefly mistaking her for some sweet, docile girlfriend.

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

"That's how it is, bastard."

"So that's the answer you're going with, huh."

But there was no way I'd lose a battle of wills to a lightweight like her. This kind of showdown, I'd already learned and mastered from the K-drama writers.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Then I'm leaving."

"..."

The classic I'm upset, I'm going home gambit.

I didn't know what kind of space this was, but Cheolgeomi was trapped here, alone. Obviously, I was the only person who ever came in. Who held the power in this relationship was painfully obvious.

"...I want to LEAVE!"

-Thump.

"Damn woman."

I stared down at the Cheolgeom laid out before me.

An utterly incorrigible woman. What kind of equipment refuses to do what its own master orders?

"Still, I did make twenty thousand won thanks to her..."

Come to think of it, the money had come from the Cheolgeom she'd birthed. But cooperative would still be better.

"Come to think of it, she was cooperative at first."

Cheolgeomi had obeyed without complaint, in the beginning. The problem was that sex didn't feel good to her.

"Last time, when my head was fuzzy, it felt good..."

Let me think back. What exactly were the conditions that time?

One: Cheolgeomi had been barely conscious.

Two: I had been in a state where arousal was difficult.

Three: Cheolgeomi hadn't been holding any position for my sake.

Then all I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had to do was replicate that, right?

To make Cheolgeomi half-unconscious? Get her to drink.

For me to be less aroused? I'd drink too. Alcohol dulls sensation, which cuts down on the pleasure her pussy gives me.

To keep Cheolgeomi from straining against any position? Tie her legs down.

"Will this actually work...?"

I'd made a quick trip to buy liquor and restraints. Calling it "bondage gear" made it sound grand, but it was just an item that linked the collar behind the neck to the legs, holding them nicely spread. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Cheolgeomi was my equipment anyway.

The subspace.

A cramped room, maybe two hundred square feet.

Both hands still full of black plastic bags.

So I can carry things in.

Well, I had come in wearing clothes.

Cheolgeomi sat in the corner of the bed, knees drawn up to her chest, staring at the door. The moment I appeared, her shoulders flinched — then she snapped her head sharply away.

"...Why are you here."

"Why do you think."

"Took you long enough. I thought you weren't coming back."

Long enough? All I'd done was run to the convenience store and back.

But looking at her face, it hadn't been just talk. The corners of her eyes were faintly red.

Time moves faster in here, huh.

Whatever the case, the conclusion was the same.

This one really was the submissive, after all. Leave her alone and she'd wait at the door like a puppy.

I dumped the bags onto the bed.

Four bottles of soju. And a restraint with leather straps — one cord for the back of the neck, two straps for either knee.

"...What is this?"

"Let's try it like last time."

"Last time?"

"You said last time felt good."

Cheolgeomi's mouth pressed shut.

She didn't deny it.

Which meant she wanted that feeling again too.

"I've thought it over. There were three things different between then and now."

I folded my fingers down one by one.

"Back then you were half out of your mind, I was out of mine, and you weren't putting any strength into your legs at all."

"...So what's with the liquor and this thing?"

"The liquor, we both drink. This spreads your legs for you."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Even as she said it, Cheolgeomi's gaze was fixed on the restraint. She stared at it for a long moment, then, quietly:

"...Would it really be like last time?"

"No idea. We'll have to try and see."

An honest answer. If it worked, great. If not, I'd figure something else out then.

Cheolgeomi picked up a bottle of soju.

She twisted off the cap and drank straight from the bottle.

-Gulp, gulp.

"Hey, you're supposed to pour that into a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glass—"

"Try making it feel bad for me, I dare you."

Cheolgeomi glared at me, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Her cheeks were already flushed red.

So equipment got drunk too?

"I am really, seriously going to kill you, bastard."

I cracked my own cap as well.

A plan was a plan.

The bitter heat slid down my throat. Had soju always been this harsh?

"That thing you bought — hurry up and put it on me."

Cheolgeomi stretched her bare ankle out toward me.