Hey, There Goes Your Boyfriend

Waves washed endlessly against the hull.

Night had fallen, and the lavish party had wound down at last. Passengers lingered on the cruise ship's deck, taking in the ocean view at their leisure.

"Hwah! I'm exhausted."

Completely drained, Arkis threw on some clothes and flung herself onto the bed.

"I can't believe I ran into my sister there... I thought I was going to die."

She buried her face in the pillow and grumbled like a child throwing a tantrum.

"You did well, Miss Noob Sister."

"Yeah? Some old guy played with me, so I had fun!"

Arkis, Elia, and Iflata were sharing a crew cabin. Being a cruise ship for high-ranking personnel, even the staff rest facilities were quite nice.

"Where are Jinwoo and Sia?"

Noticing the black-haired man and woman were nowhere in sight, Arkis asked the others relaxing on the sofa.

"They said the two of them are sharing a room."

Elia answered with the red-haired girl seated on her lap.

"Sia's weirdly insistent about rooming with Jinwoo... I wonder why?"

"Who knows. Looking at how she dresses, it's probably lust. Anyone can see she clothes herself like a pervert."

When Iflata brought up the puzzling point, Arkis offered her own earnest take.

"No. According to my holy power, she was a pure virgin."

Elia, however, vouched for Ryushia's virginity and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shut that theory down.

"When did you even check that?"

"I snuck a peek the moment I was summoned — right when I ate a knee to the face."

"..."

And so the three of them carried on, chattering away.

The sea whispered beyond the porthole. A door clicked open.

"Jinwoo, I'm done washing up."

"Mm..."

Ryushia and Jinwoo had finished their showers and were chatting about nothing in particular.

"Oh, it's dinnertime. Want to eat? They said the crew cafeteria is serving dinner."

"Yeah? The treatment here's surprisingly good."

Before long they headed for the cafeteria in comfortable robes.

"Oh! This looks like an artifact. Should we smash the glass and take it?"

"...I don't know about the game, but you'd probably get arrested here."

The corridor was decorated with rather lavish artwork, pleasant enough to look at as they walked.

And the long-awaited dinner menu was...

"Today it's eggs, bacon, and risotto."

"Western food like this isn't bad every now and then."

Cutlery clinked. They sat across from each other, working their forks and knives, making small talk.

"When we get back to the Academy, shall I make you some pasta?"

Jinwoo split an egg in half, popped it in his mouth, then scooped a spoonful of risotto and savored it before answering.

"...Nah. Let's just grill some samgyeopsal."

"That sounds good too. Yes, let's do that."

Western food wasn't bad, but they were of the firm opinion that Koreans ought to eat Korean food. Jinwoo especially missed the home cooking Ryushia made for him. They couldn't exactly waltz into the kitchen here anyway — only the cafeteria ran around the clock. For safety reasons, there were no private cooking facilities.

"Mm, and if we're doing samgyeopsal, we need ssam wraps and kimchi..."

Ryushia put her fork to her mouth, mentally assembling the ingredients for a meat feast, when rapid footsteps clattered toward them.

"You guys came out to eat too!"

Iflata appeared in front of them, practically bouncing with excitement.

"Oh, the menu's not bad..."

"I'll just have a light meal of about ten eggs and a kilo of bacon. I'm running ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rather low on protein."

Arkis and Elia arrived next, also in white robes.

"Oh my, is the mission going well?"

"Uh..."

Ryushia asked lightly upon seeing them, but Arkis couldn't bring herself to answer.

"That octopus-head kept clinging to me. It was infuriating. And I ran into someone I know and got completely wrecked — they asked if the bunny girl outfit was the new gym uniform."

"Haha... the outfits are a bit much, I'll give you that."

Elia recounted the people she'd run into.

"I just ate some candy that some guys in suits gave me! It was tasty!"

"Don't just eat things strangers give you."

Iflata, apparently, had simply gone off and had a good time.

"Looks like the only ones actually doing the mission properly here are me and the Saintess."

"What about me?"

"...You were just standing off to the side, peeping."

Well. This was enough for a first day's results. They'd mapped the movements of various key figures, and even taken down one of Maestro's puppet bodies.

"Actually... I ran into my sister... She told me to come to the family estate later..."

"Ah."

When Arkis, who had been reading the room the entire time, hesitantly confessed, a sigh escaped on its own.

Hmm. So she ran into her insane cool-beauty siscon of an older sister. And in a bunny girl outfit, no less... this is a natural disaster.

"Hang in there."

"This isn't something 'hang in there' is gonna fix!"

If I had to wear a bunny girl outfit in front of my family... yeah, I'd definitely want to kill myself. Having a strapping son suddenly turn into a woman would already be confusing enough. If they found out I was bouncing around in a bunny girl outfit...

"Blleeeegh..."

"Ryushia! Are you okay?!"

The thought made her so sick she felt nauseous on the spot.

"Anyway, today's results were meaningful. Everyone rest up, and let's work hard again tomorrow."

"Yeah!"

With Ryushia's words, they finished their meal and prepared to turn in.

"By the way, where did that Raby brat go?"

"Who knows. She vanished all of a sudden. No idea what she's up to."

Nobody knew where the white-haired emergency ration had gone.

Flap, flap.

"Haaaah... where on earth is it?"

A white angel paddled through the air on her short little wings, grumbling as she flitted this way and that.

"The Corrupted Angel's Heart should be around here..."

Raby peered into other passengers' rooms and poked around various security facilities, searching for something, but came up empty.

Then, from the far end of the corridor, familiar voices drifted toward her.

"Ah, it's those guys! Should I casually ask them to help me look?"

Whoosh. Raby immediately started flying toward them...

"What?!"

A bizarre voice rang out of nowhere over the ship's speakers.

"C-could it be—!"

A noise stabbed unpleasantly at the ears of a high-ranking being like herself. This was no ordinary broadcast. She tried to warn the others immediately, but—

"...Let's go. The performance is starting."

"Mm..."

"Oh no."

Ryushia and the rest were already walking off somewhere, their expressions vacant.

This was closer to a mental attack than anything else. No matter how much of a veteran gamer she was, resisting a surprise brainwashing was still too much.

"N-no!! You can't get dragged away!!"

Raby grabbed at them, trying to stop the party from walking themselves into a death trap after falling to the mental assault — but her tiny body simply wasn't enough.

"Aaaah!! No!! They're already hereee!!"

In the end, every passenger on the cruise ship gathered in the grand concert hall. Ryushia's party was among them.

"Haha!!! Thank you, one and all, for gracing my performance with your presence!!"

The chandelier flared, and a spotlight fell upon Maestro on the podium.

"Hmm~ We have some uninvited guests, I see?"

He flicked his fingers, and a melody began to flow through the hall as if it had always been there.

"Let me first confirm whether you are an audience worthy of hearing my music... Heh heh."

Maestro approached the party slowly, his voice brimming with laughter. He passed the people standing there soullessly. Slowly.

The music that reached them was a gentle classical piece, yet in this moment it sounded more like a chilling requiem.

"Haha!! Ryushia, for all that provocation, you fell for it so easily."

"..."

He laughed with genuine delight at Ryushia, who stood like a puppet with her will snuffed out.

"I'll see your past!!! I'll drag out that filthy true nature of yours without mercy!!"

Maestro swept his conductor's baton, pointing it at her as she stood there dazed.

"So. What is your impression of this music?"

"...It's alright, I guess."

"Ha! Irrelevant. Once I look into your memories, the likes of you—"

Her words scratched him a little along the way, but he paid it no mind and activated his ability...

"Huh?"

Only then did Maestro realize something was wrong.

"..."

He skipped past Ryushia's past as a test subject. Just looking at it was unpleasant.

The problem was... what came after.

"She's never been with a man?"

Her conduct was clean. Far too clean.

Redanis's test subjects had their reason suppressed to amplify combat power, becoming beasts faithful to violence and desire. In fact, the test subjects currently deployed on operations would assault the opposite sex, unabashedly displaying urges they could not control. Even after missions, they were said to lead lives so debauched you could barely stand to watch.

"That's impossible."

But Ryushia's private life had no openings whatsoever. Not only had she never engaged in any unsavory mating. She had never once pursued sexual desire — not a kiss, not even masturbation.

"A virgin in body and mind...?!!"

This was an emergency for Maestro. She had never committed adultery, never two-timed, never sullied pure love — so he could not even Exit her. She had never even dated. She had never even had someone she liked.

On top of that...

"What?! She cooks well, even gives lap pillows! And she did all of this to save one man without a shred of ulterior motive?! This is a genuine virgin!"

The wooden marionette paced back and forth in front of the vacant-eyed Ryushia, rambling in a panic.

"I... I cannot Exit this woman. Ryushia was the incarnation of purity! I cannot attack her unless I use my Finale!!"

He finally collapsed to his knees in despair.

"No... no!!! There are still the others! If I Exit them...!!"

Unable to accept defeat, he trudged toward Elia and the rest.

"...What's with this barbarian? Why does she only have memories of working out."

The first one, failed.

"This one's sister is a crazy siscon."

The second one, failed.

"This one neither!"

The third one failed too.

"Right — you're a guy, so you must've made a girl cry at least once?!"

Maestro's last desperate target was Lee Jinwoo, but...

"Uh... um."

The wooden marionette looked at Jinwoo's memories and couldn't say a word.

"H-hang in there."

He awkwardly patted Jinwoo on the shoulder.

"You son of a bitch!!!!"

WHAAAAAM!!!

"Guhk?! Oh crap...!!"

The instant the brainwashing lifted, Jinwoo drove a fist straight into the wooden marionette's face.

"...Mm. Just as planned."

"Told you."

Ryushia and the other women, their eyes already clear, rose to their feet.

"...Ryushia! You — you knew about my ability?!"

Only then did Maestro realize he'd been the one caught in a trap, and he spat the words in a rage.

"Well, of course. Though if there was a wild card, it was Jinwoo..."

Ryushia glanced aside, looking at a certain man.

"Y-you don't know anything!!!!!"

"Ah... no, I was just..."

Jinwoo grabbed Maestro by the collar with tears of blood in his eyes and shook him violently.