The Amusement Park Ambush (1)
For the first time since I arrived in this world, this was the day after I'd begun my very first conquest and shared my first experience with Cha Eunju.
The moment I finished sleeping with Cha Eunju, the very first thing I did was start preparing for the next episode. Under normal circumstances I would have had a few free days after the practical exam, but I'd burned every one of them at the church with Kim Isabel.
That said, I'd earned a level of favor with Kim Isabel that would have been absolutely unattainable otherwise, so it wasn't exactly bad news.
The one thing I did regret, of course, was my relationship with Han Sora.
'I'd been planning to take Han Sora and Cha Eunju out for drinks the evening the practical exam ended.'
Kim Isabel doesn't drink, and Cha Eunju's alcohol tolerance is so abysmal she'd pass out within minutes, which would naturally have created the perfect opportunity for Han Sora and me to talk, just the two of us. That is, if I hadn't been hospitalized at the Cheonmu Academy Church with serious injuries.
My plan had been to start from that tiny point of contact and work on Han Sora, who'd just happened to be drifting apart from Seo Woojin at the time. A shame, really.
'Nothing to be done about it. Expecting everything to go exactly according to plan was never realistic in the first place.'
I don't enjoy an uncertain future, but I have no intention of wallowing in it when things don't go my way, either.
What's past is past. No point wasting time chewing it over — the priority right now is moving on to the event that will build up the most favorability with the heroines.
And that event's episode… begins today, right here at Neverland Amusement Park.
'A sudden villain ambush that the students band together to resolve — that's practically the foundational cliché of every hunter story.'
Seo Woojin, who was supposed to play the central role in the original, is absent, but that hardly matters. I and Cha Eunju can more than fill the gap by running ourselves ragged.
And the close-range damage dealer slot that used to belong to Seo Woojin can easily be filled by whichever character I build a connection with over the course of this episode.
The only real variable is that in the original, it was Han Sora who organized this event, not me — but that much alone won't derail the story's grand framework.
"Ah, Seonho…!"
"…You made it, Cha Eunju."
I'd arrived a little early and was organizing today's plan in my head when Cha Eunju's voice reached me from a distance, calling out to me.
She wore a lacy blouse under a knit cardigan with slightly long sleeves, and with every skipping step she took, the hem of her purple flared skirt swayed around her knees.
Her hair, too, was perfectly smooth and neat without a single tangled or rumpled spot — proof positive that she'd put in far more effort getting ready than usual.
'She's fully started thinking of me as her boyfriend at this point.'
There'd been signs of it plenty of times before now, but after our first time together, she'd probably gained real certainty that she and I were in a relationship.
Not that I had any intention of raising Cha Eunju as anything more than a pet, but for the time being, exploiting her delusion was the better play.
"I-I'm sorry…. Did you wait long…?"
"Waited? Don't be ridiculous. There's still thirty minutes until the meeting time, Eunju."
"Oh, r-really…? I'm not late, then…?"
"The others aren't even here yet. You and I just got here a little early, that's all."
"R-right…. Sora and Isabel aren't here yet, huh…."
Realizing she'd arrived absurdly early, Cha Eunju flushed and gave an embarrassed little laugh.
Barely a day had passed since her first experience, and it showed — she was still radiating pure innocence.
…Never mind that just yesterday she'd been begging me to kiss her while we had sex, and had even used her mouth to dutifully clean the cock that had been inside her. Utterly depraved.
'Thinking about it again makes me want another round.'
Still, I should hold off for a while. Until Eunju gets a little more desperate for it.
In the meantime, I'd keep up light skinship, gradually dismantling her boundaries. Letting the wall between Cha Eunju's everyday self and her suggestion-state self erode, bit by bit.
"So, why'd you show up so early?"
"I-I just…. th-thought I shouldn't be late…."
"And why are you dressed up so nicely? That's not like you."
"P-pretty…?"
"Yep. Extremely."
"…Oh. Hehe. Ehehet…."
The colors of her knit and flared skirt clashed rather strangely, but I decided not to mention it.
This wasn't a two-person date — it was a group outing with friends. And honestly, setting that aside, Cha Eunju is simply cute enough that everything is forgiven.
"S-so, what about you, Seonho…?"
"Hmm?"
"You got here before me…. Why, why are you so early…?"
"I figured if I came early, there was a decent chance I'd get to talk with you alone like this."
"…U-uuuh? Th-thatthatthat's…?"
…Eunju, what am I supposed to do with you if a compliment that mild turns your whole face red and leaves you grinning like an idiot?
This is a girl who would lose a hundred times out of a hundred dating literally anyone. That she's especially weak to me specifically is, admittedly, impossible to deny.
-Tap tap.
"Hyaaat?!"
"Kidding, kidding. Don't read into it."
"Oh, o-of course…. It was a joke, ahaha…."
"Did you sleep well last night? No weird aftereffects from the 'hypnosis treatment' running too long or anything?"
"…I-I don't really know…? I don't remember anything, so…. Ahaha…."
Women often complain of sore hips and such afterward, and Cha Eunju, being so out of shape, must have suffered far worse than most.
And yet watching her desperately pretend not to remember what happened yesterday — honestly, the conditioning worked beautifully.
Even now, with me playfully patting her rear and playing dumb, she's trying to smooth it over with laughter. If she genuinely wanted to fake memory loss, she should be getting angry or flustered right about now, but with Cha Eunju's personality, that's probably impossible.
My relationship with her should proceed exactly like this — a little skinship at a time. Keep it up, and one day I'll find her sleeping with me without needing Suggestion: Hypnosis at all.
…And once we get that far, I can move on to instilling a proper master-and-servant dynamic during our 'hypnosis training' sessions.
"Ah, Seonho! Eunju!"
"Hey, Han Sora."
"H-hi, Sora…."
We'd been chatting just the two of us for about twenty minutes when Han Sora appeared five minutes before the agreed time.
Unlike Cha Eunju, who had clearly dressed up, this one gave the impression she'd genuinely thrown on whatever was comfortable. A long-sleeve tee, a light padded jacket, and loose straight-fit jeans.
It suited her, sure, but there was nothing in the outfit suggesting she saw me as a man. That one, I'll just have to develop slowly over time.
"What's with you two, all dressed up? I just grabbed whatever was lying around the house."
"I threw on whatever too. The clothes just look good on me, that's all."
"Pfft. Saying 'I look good in anything' with your own mouth. You're way more shameless than you look, huh?"
I know. I'm well aware that this face of Lee Seonho, the villain, isn't much to look at.
To Han Sora, Seo Woojin's childhood friend, my first impression was probably somewhere in squid-or-frozen-pollack territory. I'd deliberately leaned into it to get a laugh.
"N-no, you don't…! Your clothes really do look good on you, Seonho…! S-so…!"
…Even if there was one person in the group who couldn't take a joke.
Fortunately, Han Sora had enough social instinct to strike up conversation warmly from the very first meeting, which made talking to shy types like Cha Eunju second nature to her.
"Hehe, right, right. Eunju, you look way prettier than usual too. Stop wearing those drab track suits like last time and dress like that more often."
"Oh, r-really…? Th-thank you…."
"Want to go shopping with me sometime? Once we get paid out for the Owlbear materials from the entrance exam…."
Cha Eunju had earnestly objected to my joke, only to receive a compliment in return, leaving her flustered. And Han Sora smoothly pivoted to a new topic, keeping the conversation flowing around her.
Well, a girl like Han Sora could get along harmoniously no matter where you dropped her. That's exactly why she'd taken the pathetic, barely-human Seo Woojin of the past along to the entrance exam with her.
She's also the kind of girl who'd offer a sincere apology if her joke genuinely soured the mood. The polar opposite of a certain childhood friend whose only real asset was a brittle, oversized ego.
"By the way, Han Sora, if that's what you look like in random hand-me-downs, what on earth do you look like dressed properly? No matter how short you are on clothes, isn't parading around as a clothes hanger a bit much?"
"Pfft. What does that even mean, seriously. First time seeing you in ages and you're hilarious, Lee Seonho."
That did it.
With Han Sora, this level of banter was more than enough — I'd done all I needed to for now.
Complimenting her outright the way I do with Cha Eunju would be a touch premature. Leaving a pleasant impression by blending jokes and compliments like this was sufficient.
Standards of beauty are relative, after all. Once fondness takes root and we keep running into each other, I have more than a fighting chance even without a face like Seo Woojin's.
…And so the three of us, Han Sora included, chatted away for about ten minutes.
Even after the meeting time slipped past by five minutes, it was Han Sora who first voiced doubt about the one member who still hadn't shown.
"Wait, didn't the meeting time pass? Why isn't Isabel here yet?"
"Sh-she should be…."
"Did you not invite Isabel? Or did she say she was too busy to come?"
"No. I invited her properly, and I'm pretty sure I heard her say she'd come."
Truth be told, I know exactly why.
I had a pretty good guess as to what event was making Kim Isabel late — one particular episode came to mind.
I'd allowed for the possibility that it might never happen, since this was Han Sora's gathering rather than the original after-party, but between running into Han Sora and Seo Woojin at the practical exam and everything else, the story's broad strokes seemed determined to follow the original script.
"I'm going to run to the bathroom. If she's not here by the time I'm back, let's try calling her."
"Sure, whatever. It's not like we're in any huge rush."
"B-be safe, Seonho…."
Using the bathroom as my excuse, I peeled away from the two of them naturally — then deliberately set off in the opposite direction, toward the amusement park entrance.
Because if this event unfolded as it did in the original, Kim Isabel would be rooted to the spot somewhere around the park gates, unable to move.
'Ah, there she is.'
A little ways from the meeting spot, at the amusement park entrance. Just as predicted, Kim Isabel stood frozen there, unable to take a single step.
Because a group of rather unsavory-looking men were openly blocking her path.
"We're just asking you to hang out with us, yeah? Why do you keep dodging? You're hurting our feelings here."
"Ah, aaaa, n-no…. I, I'm… m-meeting my f-f-f-friends…."
"What's a church girl doing at an amusement park all alone? And why are you hiding your face like that, huh?"
"You came here with friends? Other girls? Then it's fine if we hang out too, right?"
"Ah, aaaa, no…. Pl-pl-please, s-stop…."
…Yeah, I figured it would go down exactly like this.
Two men flanking her on either side, boxing her in so she couldn't slip left or right. And a third man straddling the pavement directly in her path.
Blocked by the sort of villainous extras you'd call 'suntanned punks,' Kim Isabel was flustered, yet still doing her best to edge past them and keep moving forward.
"I-I-I'm, I'm s-s-sorry, but…. I-I already h-have… p-plans…."
"What's that? If you've got something to say, say it properly. You don't want to hang out with us? Huh?"
"……."
-Nod nod.
"So that's a yes?"
"……."
-Shake shake.
"So that's a no?"
"……."
-Nod nod.
"…Goddammit, is it yes or no?!"
"I-I-I-I told you it's a n-no, sir…."
…Still, she's at least able to communicate that much to a pack of rutting punks now, isn't she.
As I recall, the original Kim Isabel couldn't manage so much as a nod — couldn't timidly voice her own will at all.
So the 'androphobia training' of the past few days hadn't been entirely without effect. Of course, training that brief wouldn't be enough for her to handle a pack of punks like this with any real poise.
'In the original, I believe the perpetually-late Seo Woojin stumbled onto the scene by pure chance and rescued her.'
Naturally, Seo Woojin is absent from today's event. I left his seat empty on purpose.
Which means, for every role he was supposed to play in the original, there's only one man who can step in.
Me.