Servant: Jongchil

It had been a long time since I'd properly come back to the real world. I'd ducked in now and then to grab things while I was operating in Solari World, but this was the first genuine return in months. As always, the air of reality suited me best.

All at once, I was aching for sex. In Solari World I'd been so busy handling one thing after another that I hadn't gotten a proper fuck in. During the territorial war especially, the spy work had forced me into a life of abstinence. Thanks to that, my cock was swollen tight as a clamped-off firehose.

I went straight to Sujin and Yeonji and put them through a threesome. I pounded their cunts and assholes until both were flooding like a burst dam. When I finally let my cock off the leash and came, the semen poured out of me in such volume I could hardly believe I'd held it in this long. Sujin and Yeonji actually asked if I'd eaten something wrong.

A pleasure proportional to that eruption melted my brain. After I'd come to know sex, I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realized that resisting this kind of ecstasy was, for a human being, all but impossible. Sujin and Yeonji were my slaves — but I was a slave to sex.

Once I'd thoroughly ruined the two of them, I got back to the work I'd been doing. What I had going in the real world was a search for companions.

I intended, in the end, to bring the party up to five. Meaning I would take on two more members.

One was already decided. Lina, a classmate from the training institute.

The problem is the last slot.

The textbook formation for a five-man party was one tank, three DPS, and one healer — or two tanks, two DPS, and one healer. With Lina included, ours would sit at one tank, two DPS, and one healer. So the last member had to come in as either a tank or a DPS.

And of course, she has to be a beautiful woman.

I had no interest whatsoever in some guy. That would only make the sex harder.

My criteria for recruiting party members, in order: gender, looks, ability. A beautiful young woman who was either a tank or a DPS. I searched for someone who fit the bill. And I ran into unexpected difficulty.

There weren't many beauties among Dungeon Hunters. Tanks were almost all men. Standing at the front of the party and eating damage was a position you couldn't hold without exceptional mental fortitude, which was why plenty of people had tanking-suitable abilities and still couldn't do the job. The ones who actually volunteered to tank were mostly men. Yeonji — a woman and a tank — was a special case.

When I looked among the DPS, women turned up in decent numbers, but their looks didn't meet my standard. I wasn't asking for Sujin, Yeonji, or Lina's level, but I didn't even find anyone you'd call ordinarily pretty. They all looked like monks who'd spent years grinding themselves down in some remote wilderness.

Harder than I thought.

I had zero intention of taking on someone mediocre. I wasn't putting together a temporary party. I was building a party I would spend the rest of my life with. There was no room for flexibility in the choice.

Looks like I'll have to keep searching a while longer.

While I hunted for party members, I spent my spare time digging through the Unix Vessel. That vast, server-room-like space was packed with information on all kinds of otherworldly creative works, not just Solari World.

Creations from other worlds gave me fresh inspiration. And more than anything, they were fun.

The content I tore through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time was a wuxia novel called Supreme Sword Heavenly Immortal. A massive work spanning twenty volumes in all, and I swallowed it in a single week. The moment I finished, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

I'd had my fill of fantasy worlds through Solari World. This time, it was the martial world.

"Might as well give my brain a stretch. Shall I pay this one a visit?"

Traveling other worlds and enjoying them delivered a pleasure that rivaled sex. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Not the same violent kind of pleasure, but a delight in every single moment. I was thoroughly taken with this kind of travel.

And in a place like this, I can train my skills.

Training skills in the real world was a genuine hassle. Given my cover as a Light Control user, I was reluctant to use other abilities.

"All right. Transferring."

The world around me changed. Worldline Transfers were familiar by now. I felt at once that my body had grown younger.

First priority: figure out what character I am.

Supreme Sword Heavenly Immortal was a classic wuxia novel. In wuxia, an extra's life was worth less than a fly's — the moment a black-clad man in a bamboo hat showed up, they got chopped into radish slices. In a martial world littered with death flags in every direction, the first thing I needed to know was what kind of situation I'd landed in.

I looked around. I was in a small room — a bleak little space with nothing but a bed, a desk, and a chair. A shabby long robe and a map hung on the wall. Narrow, dilapidated, it reminded me of a chicken coop. Not unlike the studio apartment I'd lived in before.

Looks like they converted a storage shed.

I opened the door and stepped outside.

Unlike Solari World, which was a game, the original here is a novel — so figuring out where I am from the scenery alone is going to be hard.

Supreme Sword Heavenly Immortal was a fusion wuxia novel. The gist of it: countless martial artists fighting to become immortals.

Three hundred years had passed since Sword Immortal Tae U-ryang became the first human to ascend to immortality. Then rumors spread that the legendary secret art he had mastered — the Heavenly Sword Secret Skill — had appeared in the world, and chaos erupted around it.

Meanwhile the protagonist, Gong Woosun, who couldn't have cared less about becoming an immortal, wandered the world seducing women. Then he learned of the Heavenly Sword Secret Skill, figured it might help him seduce even more of them, and threw himself into the turmoil.

"Jongchil. Is the bathwater ready?"

A clear, gentle voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I turned toward it, startled.

A beauty from whom a rich fragrance seemed to rise at the mere sight of her was looking at me. Seventeen, give or take? She wore no makeup at all, and that natural look only made her more beautiful — a girl in silk robes, standing there watching me. I understood at once that I was a person named Jongchil.

Jongchil? Who the hell is that? Was there anyone by that name among the major characters?

I turned it over and over and came up empty. A waiter at some roadside inn, maybe — but not anyone who actually did anything in the novel. I stood there staring, offering no answer, and the beautiful girl asked me again.

"Jongchil? Are you feeling unwell? You don't look quite right."

She didn't seem that old, yet her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠manner was extraordinarily kind. Courtesy seemed to have soaked into her down to the bone.

I shifted tactics and decided to find out who she was. Do that, and my own identity would come to light on its own. A beauty like this was never going to be an extra. I bowed my head and answered.

"Y-yes. My apologies. My head's a bit dizzy today, and I have no strength in my body. I believe I've come down with something."

Thanks to the Lying skill, lying was effortless. At my answer, her face filled with concern.

"You, of all people — you've never had so much as a sniffle. This is worrying. Rest well today, then. I'll let Senior Sister know. The Sect Leader should be returning soon, so you'd best recover your health before then."

I kept the conversation going, wringing every scrap of information I could from her.

"When will the Sect Leader be returning?"

"She sent word that the business at the Martial Alliance is taking longer than expected. She likely won't be back until after the month turns. The Martial Discourse always runs long, but this year seems especially drawn out. I suspect it's because of that strange rumor."

I caught the term from her mouth. The Martial Discourse was the yearly grand conference of the orthodox martial world, held at the Martial Alliance. Attendance was restricted. Showing up at the Martial Discourse meant you were someone of real standing in the orthodox martial world.

"Which rumor would that be?"

"You haven't heard? The rumor that the Sword Immortal's secret manual was discovered in Xinjiang. I believe the Martial Alliance is verifying whether it's genuine. That's likely why our Sect Leader, attending as Fairy Gate's representative, has been delayed so long."

Fairy Gate!

Her words snapped my mind wide awake. If this was Fairy Gate, then the beauty standing in front of me was unmistakably Seol Hwa-rin, the sect's second disciple — the White Snow Flower.

Seol Hwa-rin, counted among the Four Flowers of the Martial World! The novel had simply described her as impossibly beautiful, so I hadn't really known — but she was, in fact, impossibly beautiful.

Skin so fine a fairy would weep with envy, delicate lips, and bright eyes that gleamed like black pearls. The unhurried smile she wore was beautiful enough to make a newly opened blossom hang its head. She was a young woman whose looks would seize the attention of anyone who passed her by. The title of Four Flowers of the Martial World was no empty reputation.

And Seol Hwa-rin's hidden charms are lethal. Fairy Gate, then. So this is Hubei? If it's Hubei, that's a long way from Jilin. Getting my hands on those fated opportunities might be a bit of a problem. Hmm...

I spun my thoughts at full speed, laying out the path ahead. The most important thing, first of all, was to seize the fated opportunities. The fortunes the original novel had allotted to its protagonist, Gong Woosun, were mine now.

Judging by this body, I look like some menial servant doing odd jobs at Fairy Gate. Which means getting those opportunities is going to be a real pain in the ass.

Even the lodging was a storage shed they'd slapped together. I'd figured from the start that I wasn't anyone of high birth, but a menial servant? Well — Solari World had started me as a slave, so this was an improvement, I supposed.

I wasn't thrilled about being a menial servant, but starting at Fairy Gate was more than fine by me. Because Fairy Gate had a lot to eat.

Starting with the Seol Hwa-rin standing right in front of me. Of course, the feast was laid out — but my station was far too low to simply help myself. For the time being, I'd keep my head down and watch for an opening.