Ghost Romance

The moment I returned to reality, I checked my points on reflex.

9,531 points.

A decent haul. And yet, somehow, it didn't feel like much.

Would've been nice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to have around twenty thousand.

My standards had gotten higher, apparently. And that was entirely because of the Noecheonryu trait.

I wanted to raise the Noecheonryu trait's level, but pushing it to Level 4 required a full fifty thousand points. What I had wasn't even ten thousand.

Thunderbolt needs ten thousand points to level up too… Tch. Short by five hundred.

Going back into the Baekhwan World just to scrape together a measly five hundred points felt like a waste of time.

Maybe I should try a random draw? Something that can repair Hwaryeonbido might drop.

I shook my head immediately. Even dumping all 9,531 points into random draws, the odds of getting what I wanted were basically zero, and I knew it.

After stewing on it for a while, I decided to dump the points into my stats. Honestly, I didn't feel like my physical abilities were lacking at all… but physicals were the kind of thing where more was always better.

Mana first. The more mana I've got, the more heavy-hitting attacks I can throw around.

And raising the mana stat didn't just increase the pool. Control over mana improved too. Put simply, every aspect of mana got better.

After Vitality, I considered Mana the most efficient stat. The least ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠efficient was, of course, Intelligence.

Four hundred points per single point of a stat. Later on, who knows how many points it'll demand… I don't even want to think about it.

Stats raised. I considered throwing the remaining 331 points into a random draw, then dropped the idea. The crack in Hwaryeonbido's blade kept flashing through my mind. Something about today just felt off.

Hmm. Maybe I should go see Harin.

I fiddled with my smartphone. Come to think of it, it was about time I ran a quest.

Let's keep it easy this time. Something simple…

I checked one of the quests and my eyes went wide.

What snagged my attention was the Ring of Yearning.

I could seal one of my traits or skills into a ring. In other words, I could put Complete Recovery or Noecheonryu into it — and whoever wore it would be able to use that skill.

Yuria could use Complete Recovery, or Elena could have Absolute Mind.

I could keep it for myself, too. Seal Complete Recovery into the Ring of Yearning and I'd essentially have a spare life.

I have to do this quest.

Ghost Romance. I recognized the title instantly.

It was a game that had briefly blown up online not long ago — a dating sim that started trending among streamers.

A dating sim. A bishoujo romance simulation.

For a pussy connoisseur — no, a pussy sommelier — like me, it was a cakewalk.

…Sure, I hit a lot of bad endings, but that was because it was a game. When the game becomes reality? Absolute cake. I could clear it in under a week. I already know the routes for all three main heroines.

I grinned from ear to ear.

The Ring of Yearning was already as good as mine.

These penalties are pretty brutal.

Traits and skills both sealed, physical abilities dropped to civilian level. At least it left my memories alone — small mercies.

What's Rule Breaker? Doesn't seem like a skill or trait…

No idea. I'd have to enter the Ghost Romance world and check for myself.

Heroine affection starting at fifty… now that's nice. Almost too nice.

One of the heroines was a childhood friend. In the original, her affection started at thirty.

For reference, Ghost Romance let you see an ending once a heroine's affection hit eighty. Hitting a hundred unlocked the true ending.

And if you pushed all three heroines' affection to ninety at the same time, you got the harem ending.

Heh. This is fucking easy. Super Man difficulty? More like Super Coward difficulty.

I was about to start the quest when I paused.

I've played this game before… but I should still do some research first.

I fired up the computer. When I was serious about searching, a PC beat a smartphone every time.

Oh, there's a route like this too… Wait, this existed? Didn't know about that.

A few months had passed since the game's release, so hidden content and even speedrun strategies had been dug up. Dating sims and speedruns — words that didn't belong together, but knowing the kind of people who played these games, it wasn't that weird.

Okay. Strategies locked in. I'll clear this in one go and grab the Ring of Yearning.

For the record, the guides were just reference material. I planned to clear this the old-fashioned way — with my third leg doing the heavy lifting. I trusted my dick more than any guide floating around the internet.

I'll make every last one of them a slave to my cock!

My eyes snapped open and I sat up. My body was soaked in cold sweat. The whole feeling was foul. My neck was stiff, like I'd slept on it wrong.

"…What the hell is this?"

A notification window floated in front of me. I blinked at the unexpected popup.

That's the original game's notification window. The cross mark in front of the text… yeah, that's it.

I got out of bed and looked around the house. A modern-style traditional Korean home — the protagonist's house from the original game. For the record, the protagonist was the son of an exorcist family living alone. His parents existed, but they were overseas on exorcism business.

I pulled my smartphone from my pocket. Eight in the morning. Time to get ready and head to school. I showered, pulled my uniform from the wardrobe, and got dressed. There was a student ID in the wallet.

Seong Yujin. Grade H, Class 4, Number 17.

What the hell is Grade H supposed to mean.

There was a national ID card too. With that, I could buy alcohol — and women. I pocketed the wallet.

I was walking past the dining table when my body suddenly locked up.

A notification window appeared. Belatedly, I looked down at the table.

A single piece of bread sat on it. Cold, unappetizing-looking bread.

A choice? Choices are popping up? Like a game?

My body wouldn't move, but I could still roll my eyes. The clock on the wall was frozen. The second hand hadn't budged. I realized it wasn't my body that had stopped — time itself had.

I have to pick a choice before I can move?

Another notification appeared.

I understood what Rule Breaker did. It let me ignore a choice — once per day.

…Choices this stupid are showing up right from the start, and I only get one a day? That's way too few.

Better to save Rule Breaker. More troublesome choices would show up later.

I'm not eating this nasty-looking bread… but the fact that a choice appeared means it might be special, right?

Curiosity made me pick option one.

Frozen time started flowing again. And my body moved on its own, grabbed the bread, and shoved it into my mouth.

So my body moves according to the choice I pick. Not a great feeling.

I collapsed into sleep.

I opened my eyes.

Being forced under like that left me with a headache.

"Senior, are you awake?"

A woman's voice. Through hazy eyes, I looked ahead. A girl stood there — pink short hair, school uniform. A genuine beauty. Big chest, too. I knew her. Ji ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dahye. One of the heroines of Ghost Romance.

"Ji Dahye…"

"Yes, Senior. Your Dahye."

I tried to sit up and realized my body wouldn't move on its own. My hands and feet were bound in chains fixed to the wall. Judging by the length, I had maybe a meter of range at best.

"…What the hell is this?"

"Senior. Everything is for your sake. From now on, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. Hah… hah… hahk…"

Ji Dahye's face flushed red. Her eyes went unfocused, and drool spilled from her open mouth.

Something pale and hazy was visible behind her back.

…An earthbound spirit.

All three heroines of Ghost Romance were possessed by ghosts. The plot was that the protagonist, an exorcist, saved them. Ji Dahye was possessed by an earthbound spirit.

But something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Fuck. The heroine kidnaps and imprisons the protagonist? What kind of bullshit is this…

I'd been expecting a sweet dating sim. Instead, I felt like I'd been smacked in the back of the head.

Ji Dahye, now down to her underwear, came toward me. My throbbing cock was the least of my problems — I needed a way out of here.

There wasn't one.

With my current physical abilities, escape was impossible. Traits and skills were sealed too.

"Heh, hehehe, Senior Yujin…. We can be together forever."

Guess I'll have to fuck Ji Dahye and look for a chance to escape…

The moment her hand touched my body, the world went dark.