Chapter 159
No, if it was just curiosity, his middle school fantasies about sneaking into the women's bath were far stronger. He'd desperately wanted to see what that place looked like, just once. If he'd really tried, he could've made it happen somehow—dressed as a woman, or posing as a sewer repairman...
He'd even heard about a guy who got caught by the cops after doing exactly that: cross-dressing to slip into the women's bath. Han Yaseong had felt that same burning curiosity, but it wasn't quite strong enough to outweigh the fear of punishment and humiliation. So he'd stayed put, heart pounding with desire but never crossing that line.
Yet here he was now, gearing up to venture beyond that deadly forest. A place where death was a real possibility. He wouldn't risk the baths for fear of jail or shame, but he'd stake his life on the forest ahead. That couldn't just be simple curiosity.
No, there had to be something deeper, more primal. As Han Yaseong wandered the edges of Forest 0, lost in thought for hours, he tried to pin it down. Was it a need to awaken something inside him? To evolve it, make it shine brighter? He figured that's why he trained so relentlessly—chasing some profound sense of achievement.
Whatever it was, it exhausted him, gnawing at his mind all day. Only that night, lying down after dinner, did it crystallize in a hazy flash.
He wanted to reach the peak. The raw, unfiltered male urge.
Exploring the forest wasn't the goal. It was just the means. The true endgame was power—becoming a superhuman powerhouse.
Sometime along the way, that hunger had taken root in his soul. Back in the old days, it would've been the dream of becoming king. History was littered with men who craved the throne: building empires, ruling from the pinnacle of humanity, standing alone as the absolute best while everyone else groveled at their feet.
The seat of the one true ruler.
Countless historical figures chased that dream, only to crash into ruin or death. It was a gamble, wagering everything you had. Win, and you'd claim the throne, lording over all with limitless wealth and glory. Lose, and your family shattered—men beheaded and hung in the town square, wives, daughters, and daughters-in-law enslaved, raped endlessly by strangers until they broke. The traitor's head spiked on the city gates, a laughingstock for the masses.
Even knowing those stakes, men kept rolling the dice. Yi Seong-gye succeeded in rebellion, founding Joseon—but failure would've wiped his line from existence. Men with that primal fire challenged the crown relentlessly, even if it meant losing everything in flames.
Those who didn't? They watched from the sidelines, yapping about it till they died ordinary deaths—bit players in history, fading into bland obscurity.
That's how Han Yaseong had lived until now. A truly pathetic existence. Wake up, go to school, come home. Eat, shit, jerk off to porn, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Pathetic.
Or ordinary, if you wanted to be kind. Most guys drifted through life like that—no ambitions, no risks, just day-to-day drudgery. That was the mark of the average man.
But Han Yaseong was rejecting it all now. Embracing the challenge, reaching for something new. Venturing beyond the forest was like gunning for the throne— all or nothing. Fail the expedition, and death claimed him. Everything he'd gained would vanish: Senior Choi Yujin slipping another guy's cock into her pussy, Senior Eun-a sucking off some stranger.
His stuff? Worthless junk, torched to ash. No trace left. Han Yaseong? Oh yeah, that guy... A fleeting memory, then forgotten.
So why risk it? Better to hunker down safe in Forest 0. No death there. No losing the seniors.
Yet humans were fools, weren't they? Greedy moths to the flame, torching themselves for more. He had plenty now—more than before—but it wasn't enough. He craved strength, luxury, dominance. Training for that? Han Yaseong couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
He'd molted into a dragon already, but now he hungered for wings. That glittering hoard? Even scraps would make him filthy rich. Chasing the motherlode felt ridiculous—especially since Porn Guy seemed to know where it was. Maybe a mountain of gems, millions of tons. Trillions? Tens of trillions? Hell, fifty trillion wasn't impossible.
With that, no billionaire clan could touch him. Korea? He'd own it. One word, and girl group idols stripped bare for naked dances. Top actresses bent over for his private porn shoots. Freshman college girls lined up to suck him off.
Anything he wanted. Fifty trillion made him king of Korea—hell, the world.
That's what Han Yaseong craved. Power to do everything. Godlike authority.
The dream of a man who'd wasted his life in mediocrity.
To seize it, he had to scout those deadly zones beyond the forest. Even if it killed him. Even if it cost every scrap he owned.
He was hooked on the throne's allure—no antidote. Skip it, and regret would fester forever, like that middle school crush who rejected him: self-loathing, shame, rage, resentment, emptiness, doubt, despair. A lifetime haunted.
So by the campfire, he swung his sword with grim resolve. Fear of death turned training into torture, shoulders knotted tight, blade feeling leaden. If it was just injury, fine—but death? That was the nightmare.
Even would-be kings flinched from it: clan obliterated, men executed, women whored out to enemies. Mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, nieces turned sex slaves, pussies battered into cum dumps by endless cocks. Many quit midway from that horror.
The victors made sure of it—crushing rebels mercilessly as a warning. Challenge the crown, end like this. So fear broke most before they started. Lee Gwal's rebels fought to the end under King Injo; defeat meant wives and daughters as enemy playthings, raped endlessly amid tears of rage and despair.
That terror would've stopped Han Yaseong too, if he'd had more to lose. Good parents? No way he'd go. But his folks were ghosts already. And even with Senior Choi Yujin and Senior Eun-a, he didn't have them—not really. Too lowly for anything official.
They were Korea's elite, swimming in billions. He? A broke freshman nobody. The gap was a chasm—peasants don't court nobility. They were yangban ladies; he was dirt-poor farmer stock. Laughable to even compare.
Hell, they were practically princesses—princedoms of wealth. He? A fallen yangban at best, title without rank or power.
So he had to level up. Forest expeditions were non-negotiable.
If he could claim them without it, he'd stay put. But skipping meant losing them—and everything else. Greed for more fueled the fire.
Seniors Choi Yujin and Eun-a weren't enough. Han Yaseong dreamed bigger. Far bigger.