The Equipment... Is Crying?

-Click.

One strap behind her neck. A ring on each knee.

When I pulled the strap, Cheolgeomi's legs slowly spread apart.

And then they stopped, held open.

“...This is weird.”

“What is.”

“My legs won't move.”

“That's the whole point of the thing.”

Half a bottle of soju in, and Cheolgeomi's eyes were already glazed over. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing a little ragged.

Good. Condition one, met.

I was half a bottle in too. Dull the senses, feel less nervous — condition two.

Legs locked down — condition three.

Perfect.

...And yet.

I took a step back and looked down at her.

A woman bound by straps, legs held open, lying there waiting. Eyes half-lidded, lips slightly parted.

...Huh?

This was a shot I'd barely managed to glimpse even in videos.

And I'd built it with my own two hands.

The blood rushed to one place. My head was foggy from the booze, but down below I was harder than I'd ever been.

Well, whatever. Doesn't matter.

I'd nailed two out of three.

So there I was, pressing myself against her entrance, when—

“Huh?”

There was resistance.

“Why won't it go in?”

“Because I'm not an idiot — no, wait, you are. You can't just shove it in like that...”

-Swoosh, swoosh.

I nudged her outer folds aside for a moment and rubbed against the mouth of her inner gate instead.

“Nnh...!”

Cheolgeomi made a lewd little sound — apparently she was enjoying it too.

A few strokes of that, and slick wetness came seeping out as she began to open for me.

“Here I go~”

-Shloop.

“Mmph...!”

Cheolgeomi's back arched off the bed, then the strap caught her and pulled her right back down.

Her knees flinched — trying to close, it looked like.

The straps only went taut. Her legs stayed exactly where they were.

Oh.

There was a reaction.

Yesterday she'd just lain there with her eyes closed.

-Creak, creak.

Cheolgeomi bit her lip. Her knuckles went white where they clutched the sheets.

“Nh... hah...”

I could see her straining to swallow the sounds leaking out of her.

She was holding back.

Holding back, huh...

The teachers in the videos had taught me this much: when a woman fights to stay quiet, it means it feels that good.

And when she can't hold it anymore and finally breaks — that's the climax.

So, harder.

-Thud, thud.

“Hahk...!”

Cheolgeomi's head tipped back, her neck arching. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

“Take it!”

Harder.

Her jaw was clenched tight. So, harder still.

She should be getting close by now, right?

Last time it definitely came out. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠From a girl who wasn't even conscious — just spurt, and there it was.

So why not now, when she was clearly feeling it?

The factor.

I needed the factor before I could put one into the next one.

And whatever this was, I could feel it in my gut — it was going to be a goddamn jackpot.

Impatience crept in. Maybe it was the alcohol, but my mouth got ahead of me.

“Come on, hurry up.”

“...!”

“Hurry up and come. You have to come — that's the whole point of this.”

Cheolgeomi's face crumpled.

The lip she'd been biting went slack, and her chin trembled.

That expression was so obscene that even more strength pooled below.

“Ugh...!”

-Splurt.

And from Cheolgeomi — nothing. Right up to the very end, not a thing came out.

I undid the straps.

The moment the rings came free, Cheolgeomi snapped her legs shut.

Then she curled into a ball and turned to face the wall.

“Hey.”

No answer.

Her shoulders were shaking.

...Is she crying?

“Why are you crying?”

“...”

“Hey. I said, why are you crying?”

“...”

“You have to actually tell me if you want me to know.”

Cheolgeomi curled up even smaller. Knees dragged up to her chest, face buried in them, nothing but muffled sobs seeping out.

She wasn't even calling me an idiot.

She wasn't calling me disgusting.

This was a girl who couldn't open her mouth yesterday without an insult coming out.

I sobered up.

All at once.

The room went cold.

Hurry up and come. You have to come.

My own voice finally reached my ears.

I'd said that. While looking at a face that was about to cry, believing it was a face of pleasure.

...Did I go too far?

No.

No, that's not it. She's the one who said she wanted to try it.

She's the one who polished off the whole bottle first.

I just did what I was told. So what was the problem?

...It was because I was bad at it, wasn't it.

The videos are one thing, and I'm a loser who's never so much as held a girl's hand.

It was because I came up short.

Short.

That word snagged on something.

Points.

The number that always hung at the end of every notification — every level-up, every achievement.

+1 Point. +5 Points. +2 Points.

Where had all those points gone?

Corner of my vision, right side. There was a small indicator I'd never once paid attention to — the place where old notifications stacked up, folded away.

I touched it with a fingertip, and they unspooled one by one.

I tapped the +2 Points at the top.

-Ding.

“...What is this?”

A game screen. I'd seen this thing hundreds of times.

First things first — Cheolgeomi needs to give birth to Cheolgeom fast.

That was how the money got made.

And the hint was already sitting right there.

The pregnancy gauge.

Fill the gauge fast, get pregnant fast, give birth fast. Sell more.

-Tap.

Fifteen points gone in an instant. Three left.

Then, Technique.

Girth 11. Length 13. Rigidity 3.

“...”

The teachers from the videos floated through my head. Every last one of them was huge.

And the women lost their minds over it.

Bigger means she'll feel it more, right?

Cheolgeomi hadn't come once today.

Because I came up short.

Then I just had to fill what was lacking.

Next time, I wanted to do it for her properly.

Not just make her cry — make her actually say it felt good, like that first time.

-Tap. Tap. Tap.

At some point, the sobbing at my back had gone quiet.

“...Next time, I'll make you come for real.”

No answer.

“I want to get out of here.”

A six-pyeong studio apartment. The sword lying on the floor.

...Huh?

Something was wrong with my body.

I'd just unloaded everything moments ago, and already the signal was coming in.

A body that used to be done after three times a day was standing at attention again in under an hour.

Two hundred percent. The number had sunk into my flesh.

And then—

“...Whoa.”

The heavy weight I could feel down below.

And with every bit of that new heft, my self-esteem as a man climbed right along with it.

Went up three notches, didn't it.

I looked down. A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.

Three centimeters is a lot more than you'd think.

The calculations started turning again.

Gauge at 2,000 — 2,500 to go.

I'd doubled both my volume and my success rate. A few rounds and it was done.

The First Strike was already banked. Fill the gauge, and baby number two would come out with a skill attached.

I reached a hand toward the sword.

And stopped.

A small back, curled toward the wall. Muffled sobs.

...Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow.

Today wasn't the day.

Evening.

I put a pot of water on for ramyeon and turned on the news. It felt like any sound at all would make me feel less visible.

“...She's not wrong, though.”

I muttered it to myself over the sound of the ramyeon water boiling.

I blew on the noodles and opened my phone.

The Hunter Gallery.

For a guy with an empty grade field, this place was more familiar than any hunter job board. It's not like I could do anything there but window-shop.

I skimmed through it all and flipped my phone face-down.

Whether the number one hunter was fifty or used equipment or didn't — none of it had a thing to do with me.

What sat in front of me was a single 30,000-won sword. And a 2,500 gauge to fill tomorrow.

I didn't sleep that night.

Lying there staring at the ceiling, I kept seeing that curled-up back; closing my eyes, I kept hearing my own voice.

Hurry up and come. You have to come.

And what she'd asked me two days ago floated up along with it.

You're going to sell me too? Why would you sell me. You're the one who copies equipment.

'I kept going on about her being equipment, so I guess the words came out too harsh.'

It was true that, with her wearing a woman's shape, something kept catching on me.

Maybe that was why I'd treated her worse — to hold on to the certainty that what was in front of me wasn't a woman.

“Tomorrow, I'll apologize.”

She was clearly different from a human woman. But she was also similar in a lot of ways.

And it was true that I'd gone too far.

The next morning.

I sat down in front of the sword.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“I just have to fill the gauge. We'll be done in no time.”

And then, a little quieter:

“...I'll apologize too.”

“I want to fuck you.”

Cheolgeomi was in the corner of the bed.

Facing the wall, knees hugged to her chest. Exactly the pose she'd been in when I left yesterday.

No. There was no way it was exactly the same.

For me, it had been a day.

For her — how long had it been?

“...”

I didn't sit down beside her.

I didn't call her over first.

And no idiot jokes either.

“...Hey.”

“...”

“Yesterday was... pretty bad, huh.”

For a long while, no answer came. Then, still facing the wall:

“...Hurry up and get it over with.”

Cheolgeomi rolled over and lay flat on her back. Eyes closed.

Even without straps, she spread her legs.

Exactly as she'd learned yesterday.

Today I send Cheolgeomi off, no matter what.

Today was different. I'd raised my length — this time I could make her feel it.

Slowly. All the way.

'Nnh...'

Her cervix brushed the head of my cock. A jolt of sensation shot up from the tip.

I pushed deeper.

“N...”

Cheolgeomi's whole body went rigid.

“...It hurts.”

That was a first. Never once mid-act had those words come out of that mouth.

Not an insult flung at me — a plain statement, right now, right here: it hurts.

I stopped my hips.

“...It really hurts.”

Her voice was trembling. Tears were leaking from the corners of her squeezed-shut eyes.

This time there was no mistaking it.

“...I'll stop.”

I pulled out slowly.

Cheolgeomi curled up again. This time she didn't hide it — she cried out loud.

“Did it hurt yesterday too?”

“...Yeah.”

“And the day before?”

“...Yeah.”

“But you said the first time was good.”

“Only the first time.”

Wasn't it supposed to hurt at first and then start feeling good? That's how it went for everyone in the videos.

“Isn't that just how it is for everyone? It hurts at first, and then later...”

“I don't know about other equipment.”

Cheolgeomi spoke with her face still buried between her knees.

“For me it only ever hurts.”

“...Then why did you hold it in?”

“...”

“You could've just said it hurt. Why didn't you say anything?”

A long pause. Then, very quietly:

“...Because you like it.”

“...”

“You like it, don't you? Going hard. You do.”

“...”

“And if I said I didn't want to...”

Her voice cut off there.

I didn't know what to say back.

So I just pulled her into my arms.

Her small back went stiff once inside my embrace, then slowly softened.

Her fingers found the hem of my shirt and held on.

She wasn't cold. She was warm — the exact temperature of a human being.

“...I'm sorry.”

“...”

“I didn't know. I really didn't.”

When was the last time I'd actually apologized to anyone?

I couldn't even remember it happening.

I opened the status window again.

Length 16.

I pressed the number hard with my fingertip.

...Figures.

Every one of those three points I'd spent had been poison.

I thought I was coming up short. Turns out I'd been too much.

So was it useless now?

...No.

I could control length with depth. I just wouldn't go all the way in.

Gentle. Shallow.

“Can we try once more?”

“...”

Cheolgeomi lifted her head without a word.

“Really gently this time. The second it hurts, tell me.”

“...You mean I can actually say it?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded.

This time I didn't go all the way in. I stopped about halfway.

I looked at Cheolgeomi's face. Her brow was smooth.

Then, slowly.

“...Is this okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Deeper?”

“No. Right there.”

Right there.

I moved slowly, staying shallow.

Nothing like what I'd seen in the videos — a slow, boring rhythm.

“Haaah...”

And yet Cheolgeomi's breathing began to shift, little by little.

Not held-back breath. Leaking breath.

Her closed eyelids quivered, and the hand that had been clutching the sheets grabbed my arm instead.

“Ah... there, that...”

“Here?”

“Yeah... yeah...!”

-Squelch, squelch.

The wet sound of friction where our bodies met.

“Ngh...!”

Unlike yesterday, her walls wrapped around me soft and yielding. The way they clung to me with every stroke was driving me insane.

So this is what real sex is.

Real sex is an exchange with your partner.

Cheolgeomi's body was delicate and small inside, so this — slow and careful — was what she needed.

“Haaaaah...!”

So that's the sound she makes when she's feeling it.

It was a completely different kind of sound, no question.

-Spurt.

Cheolgeomi's back bowed like a drawn bow. The walls gripping my shaft convulsed again and again, and the hand on my arm squeezed tight.

There it was. Just like last time — the notification.

And in that instant, I couldn't hold back either.

-Splurt.

...All at once?

From 2,000, the gauge had filled to the brim in a single shot.

Double stacked on double. Everything I'd spent came right back to me.

One point remaining.

My finger drifted toward the status window on its own — and stopped.

Not this time. I wasn't spending it carelessly again.

I'd just swallowed a three-point dose of poison, after all.

Factor inventory: 1.

The First Strike Amplification Cheolgeomi had just given me.

Baby number three's share.

Blue text appeared before Cheolgeomi's stomach.

One day from now, baby number two would be born with a factor attached.

'Factor must mean a skill factor, right?'

No doubt it would fetch a far higher price than the firstborn.

“...”

Cheolgeomi, catching her breath, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked up at me.

She stared for a long moment. Then she asked, quietly:

“...You're going to sell this baby too, aren't you?”