13. Tidying Up
13. Tidying Up
Basically, if the master doesn't call them,
they wait in a small room in the annex.
They start their daily routine when the bell installed in the main building's master room rings,
or when the master comes to the annex.
But every morning, they wake up at the master's wake-up time, come to the master's room,
take care of the master's morning erection,
handle the bathroom and bath service,
and then either become a table in the master's room to serve as furniture,
or become a food tray to serve as a tray service.
Was it called nyotaimori?
That must be thoroughly Father's Japanese taste.
And then they wait again in the small room.
Some days they wait all day,
but other days they're dragged around from morning.
Walks in the garden, acts in the annex's living room,
sometimes they're made to deal with outside men
or women.
They exist solely for the master's sexual desires.
I went with them to the annex.
Again, naturally handing me their leashes,
they walk on all fours.
Arriving at their room and looking inside,
it's really narrow and uncomfortable.
Seeing the dog bowls and chamber pots,
it seems they handle everything in this room.
That bastard's scat fetish.
"First, throw away those chamber pots.
From now on, use the main building's bathroom."
The women, having learned of my scat aversion,
obediently listen this time.
"And there are plenty of rooms, so why are you two sharing?
Move one person to the next room."
The women answered immediately at my words,
but they seemed to have something they wanted to say.
Having lived a life where they had to read the mood of those above them,
their learned skill of reading the room
is now used to read the slaves' mood.
Conversations with them, where they can't say what they want unless it's an answer to a question, are exhausting.
"First, let's set a few rules for now.
If you want to ask me for something,
bring me a whip. I'll give you the right to speak after punishment."
I'm just preemptively resolving the fact that talking to me will result in punishment anyway.
This way, communication should become
a bit smoother.
As soon as I finished speaking,
Kim Hyeon-ah prostrated on the floor
and brought the whip that the lawyer had been swinging earlier, holding it in her mouth.
Shin A-yeong also prostrated on the floor
and crawled on all fours to bring the whip from the living room.
Taking Kim Hyeon-ah's whip,
I looked at her for a moment.
The least painful area on a person: the buttocks.
Slap!
I hit a woman for the first time.
And with a tool like a whip.
I'd already decided to do it anyway.
Not clumsily,
but with enough speed to deliver certain pain.
"Ugh... Thank you."
"Speak."
"Please, I beg you. Being in a solitary room is too painful."
Ah.
I'd only thought about the room being small,
but I hadn't noticed something more important.
To Kim Hyeon-ah, who had already spent a year
in this hellish place first,
a companion like Shin A-yeong
must have been incredibly precious.
A comrade to endure pain together and forget loneliness,
a daughter, a sister.
"Sleep together squeezed into one bed,
or sleep separately—that's up to you.
Use separate rooms."
Space is abundant anyway.
I'll just allocate personal space
and let them figure it out.
"Yes. Thank you."
-You have acquired Emotion.-
They feel happiness from something like this?
Then I take Shin A-yeong's whip.
It's thinner and longer than the one Kim Hyeon-ah brought.
I swing the whip at Shin A-yeong too.
Maybe because the whip was thin and long, I aimed for her buttocks
but hit her waist.
"Thank you."
"Speak."
"I haven't eaten anything since the previous master passed away.
If you leave the mansion empty today,
I might really collapse.
Please, show me mercy."
"Huh? You two haven't eaten for five days? What about water?"
"We drank rainwater that collected in the garden
or each other's urine."
"What the hell, is this a deserted island??
From today, rule change. Meals are self-service buffet.
Tell me if the food runs out."
"Thank you. But for a slave to eat on their own..."
"Shut up. I'll be away from the house many days anyway,
and I have too much to do
to take care of your meals."
"Thank you."
-You have acquired Emotion.-
-Emotion has acquired one unit,
so a card is issued.-
-Please choose one card from three cards.-
-Cards not selected
may appear again in the next acquisition opportunity.-
-Think of 'Issue' and 'Select' to begin.-
-You can currently select two cards.-
Ah. I've acquired a second card now.
As expected, resolving physiological needs brings instant happiness.
"Let me tell you in advance, take care of your own water too.
Use the bathroom in the main building properly.
And don't even think about drinking toilet water—
drink proper water from the water purifier."
"Yes. Understood."
They bowed their heads politely and answered.
Taking them in means
a mountain of headaches ahead.
They're just women I accepted for my own hypocrisy.
But if I use them well,
there's nothing better than this
for harvesting happy emotions.
Should I call it symbiosis?
"Alright, I get the eating and sleeping part.
How do you wash yourselves?"
Looking around the annex, I don't see any plumbing like a bathroom.
From the fact that those chamber pots look clean too,
they must be washing them somewhere.
"There are facilities behind the annex."
Behind the annex?
I thought I'd seen the entire house with Lawyer Kang Min-jeong,
but now I realize she wasn't showing me around the house—
she was taking me around to ask about selling off Father's collection.
Again, the women politely
hand me their leashes.
I wish they wouldn't walk on all fours,
but neither I nor they have any power yet.
Without a choice, I take the leashes.
Was it because we'd grown a bit closer?
Or because they'd seen me trying to improve their treatment compared to Father?
For some reason, the buttocks of the women crawling ahead on all fours
wiggled and swayed
like a large dog wagging its tail.
I don't know why, but
without thinking, I lightly slapped Kim Hyeon-ah's swaying buttocks
with my palm.
Smack.
Our eyes met.
For a moment, even though no one was saying anything,
I panicked first.
She glanced back at me
and then stuck out her buttocks again.
"Hm. Hm. I'll have fun with you later.
First, let's go behind the annex."
I muttered like a third-rate villain
and started walking again.
"Yes, Master-nim."
-You have acquired Emotion.-
What, more emotion came in?
The facilities behind the annex were
simple shower facilities for the slaves.
The cruel part is that the shower room is outside,
not inside the building.
Even though it's right behind the annex,
for them to get here,
they have to circle around through the garden.
On all fours.
And it's an outdoor shower.
It's blocked by high walls so it can't be seen from around,
but right behind the mansion is a mountain.
When it gets even a little cold,
they'd have to shiver in hellish cold.
And there's not even a towel or laundry basket.
If my guess is right, they have to crawl from the annex naked,
wash with cold water,
and then crawl back to the annex with dirt clinging to them again.
Even a simple shower facility is designed
to give them definite pain.
And contrasting with the shabby shower facility
is a luxurious open-air bath.
At a glance, that's a facility for the master.
Yeah, a Japanese otaku building a Japanese-style house
would never leave out an open-air bath.
Actually, with the cherry blossom trees in the garden,
it has a Japanese feel that I'd like too.
The backyard is quite spacious too.
Seems like I could
try a barbecue and hot spring party.
On one side of the backyard, there's a small laundry room and boiler room,
and even a backup generator for emergencies.
And a small incinerator.
Probably a place to dispose of secret documents.
My exploration of the mansion is pretty much done.
Given Father's bizarre personality,
it wouldn't be strange if a secret door popped up somewhere anytime.
"Alright, I need to go organize my own stuff too.
I'll see you in a few days."
"You will... definitely come back, right?"
Kim Hyeon-ah looked up at me with anxious eyes.
"Of course.
There's no way I'd abandon a house this big.
Contractors are coming starting tomorrow,
so try not to come out of the annex."
Probably people connected to the organization will come.
And they'll look at the women like they're strange pets.
Maybe I'll even run into the man
Father threw at Kim Hyeon-ah to deal with.
Better to avoid annoying things.
"Master-nim. Are you sure you don't need any service today?
If it's too much trouble,
please at least use my mouth right here."
Shin A-yeong also spoke with anxious eyes.
But why is she so fixated on her mouth?
"Hey, I need time to mentally prepare, don't I?
I came here straight from my dawn delivery part-time job this morning."
The two slaves look surprised at my words.
"Now that I've decided to live with you here,
I can't stay the same as before,
but for today, I don't think I can."
"Yes, I understand.
Then I'll be waiting until I see you next time."
I told the two not to see me off,
and left the mansion.
I returned to my studio from the mansion.
I hadn't done any physical labor all day,
but enormous fatigue washes over me.
-Status-
[Owned Cards: 2]
[Current Emotion: 224/100]
[Accumulated Emotion: 324]
[You can acquire two cards.]
-Issue-
[No 39. Strength - D]
[Simply becoming stronger
changes the world.]
[Basic strength rises to an advanced level.
Efficiency of strength increase
through subsequent training rises.]
One of my childhood wishes was to become strong.
Even just strength alone has infinite uses.
[No 44. Drawing - D]
[Completed pictures make people happy
even after hundreds of years.]
[Acquires top-tier drawing skills.
However, artistry does not change.]
Drawing skills without artistry?
Is it like a camera-like ability?
[No 46. Agility - D]
[Racing and horse racing.
Humans feel happiness in speed.]
[Basic agility rises to an advanced level.
Efficiency of agility increase
through subsequent training rises.]
[Reaction speed rises to top-tier.]
All three are good, but also ambiguous.
Most cards seem to be either physical enhancement
or skill acquisition.
Compared to Strength, Agility comes with reaction speed,
but I can't think of much I can do
by being agile right now.
I take hold of the Strength card and select it.
-Select-
Unlike with Health, a truly simple power surges through me.
Externally, my muscles don't bulge,
but they settle in firmly.
I looked around for something to test in the house,
but messing with the refrigerator or washing machine
would probably cause a disaster.
I open the toolbox, take out a wrench, hold it at both ends,
and apply force.
Nothing seemed to change at first,
but as I put in more strength, the wrench slowly bends.
This is far stronger than I thought.
It's not like the superhuman strength in comic books,
but probably enough to make it into overseas news.
Unlike some superhero who suddenly gains strength,
I don't have trouble controlling it.
It's like someone who used to control strength from 1 to 5
now controls from 1 to 20.
I tried to straighten the wrench again,
but it bent crookedly instead of straightening.
It's a shame, but I'll give up.
-You can issue one more card.-
-Would you like to select now?-
Since I selected while having two issues available,
a new option appeared.
It asks if I want to choose one of the remaining two cards.
For now, Agility is tempting,
but to see what other cards there are,
I just start issuing again.
-Issue-
[No 40. Singing - D]
[A talent for singing songs that make people happy.
Also called a gift from God.]
[Acquires top-tier singing ability.]
Short but clear description.
I still want physical enhancement over skills.
I'm already rich enough to earn money through skills.
[No 38. Hearing - D]
[Not being able to hear
is a state of being robbed of the happiness
of talking with others.]
[Hearing rises to top-tier level.]
[Musical sense rises to top-tier level.]
Even less appealing than Eyesight.
[No 48. Cooking - D]
[Perhaps humans live to eat delicious food.
Missing the closest happiness
is a foolish act.]
[Acquires top-tier cooking skills.]
The card I was considering last time appeared again.
I'll acquire it this time.
-Acquire-
Unlike physical enhancement, nothing changes.
Cooking skill increase...
Well, I'll see when I try boiling some kimchi stew later.
For now, let's rest a bit before the night delivery part-time job.
I desperately need the Stamina card.