The Tang Family's Private Affairs (2)
As a developer, my job was to roam the game world, identify bugs and anomalies, then report and fix them.
So I wandered. A lot.
I avoided combat whenever I could — fighting was a waste of time — which left my martial arts stuck at Rank 1. But even at Level Rank 1, my Agility was Rank 10, and my lightness skill was the best in the entire game.
That's why I know this world inside and out.
Quests, though? I know what they are, but I've rarely completed any. Completing quests takes too long — doesn't fit the job description.
Still, all that wandering as a developer means I know exactly which quests trigger in which regions.
By now the Poison King Valley quest should have activated. The Family Chief is missing, the Second Patriarch is down from poison — that's why she's talking like this. Jong Yak-hui, the Second Matriarch's wife, is probably getting violated right about now. Same goes for the Third and Fourth Patriarchs' wives. The daughters too. Dang Juju is a heroine, so she hasn't been touched yet. But she will be soon enough. This is a humiliation game, after all.
The moment I mention the Poison King Valley, Dang Juju's eyes change.
— Shff— clack—
"Who the hell are you? How does a messenger know about the Poison King Valley incident?"
Sudden killing intent from Dang Juju.
What? Why is she looking at me like she wants me dead?
"Whoa — why the killing intent all of a sudden?"
"You bring up the Poison King Valley and the Family Chief. Of course I'm going to be wary. How would you know Dang Family business unless you were an enemy?"
Right. She's treating me as a potential threat.
"I know the Poison King Valley because I used to come and go from there all the time. Word spread through the Murim that the Poison King's Cave had been discovered, so of course the Dang Family heads would go after the Poison King's inheritance. That's easy enough to predict. But the Poison King Valley isn't some walk in the park. Most people who go in never come back out. So the odds that the Dang Family heads ran into trouble there are pretty high. That's all I'm saying."
"What? You came and went from the Poison King Valley regularly?"
— Gulp—
Dang Juju, who'd been listening, swallows hard.
A gulp? That's the kind of thing people do when greed kicks in.
"I-Is that true? What you just said?"
"What part?"
"About coming and going from the Poison King Valley. How does an ordinary person just stroll in and out of that place? Even Dang Family members go in and come out poisoned."
"Believe it or don't. My work required me to stop by the Poison King Valley often enough."
"Y-You really went in and came back out? Or did you just poke your head past the entrance?"
"No. I know the geography inside the Poison King Valley like the back of my hand."
"What? You actually know the entire layout of the Poison King Valley?"
Dang Juju's eyes go wide.
Knowing the geography of the Poison King Valley means you've gone in and come back out alive.
"Yeah, of course. There's nowhere under heaven I haven't been."
"Really?"
"Hey now — what do you take the Black Leopard Messenger for?"
"A messenger who delivers letters. That's all."
"Yeah, a messenger. That's right."
"How dull. Then… if I asked you to go to the Poison King Valley right now, could you?"
"Going there isn't hard. But why would I? I've got no reason to go right now."
"How did you get the letter from Sisi Unnie?"
"Ah, that. I ran into Miss Eon by chance. She found out I was headed to the Dang Family as a messenger, so she wrote a letter on the spot and entrusted it to me."
"On the spot? Fine. Then I'm commissioning you for messenger work too."
"Commissioning me? A letter to whom?"
"I'll write a letter to my father. Deliver it and come back."
To your father…?
Is this girl insane?
Right about now, Dang Juju's father Dang Ducheon is fighting for his life in the Poison King Valley.
I can see what she's after.
"Isn't the Dang Family Chief at the estate right now?"
"No. He's away."
I float a probe, and she confirms he's outside. So he really is missing in the Poison King Valley.
"That 'away' wouldn't happen to mean the Poison King Valley, would it?"
"That's right. He's in the Poison King Valley. So go there, deliver the letter to Father, and come back."
Look at this girl working the angles.
Nothing to lose, right?
If I deliver the letter safely, she confirms Dang Ducheon is alive. If I don't come back, she just forgets about me.
Delivering the letter is a bonus. Me dying without delivering it costs her nothing.
But I need to rope Dang Ducheon into this if I want time with Dang Juju — and a shot at conquering her.
So I have to tie this commission to her.
"Hmm. That won't work."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Before, nobody was in the Poison King Valley, so coming and going was safe enough."
"And? You're saying it's dangerous now?"
"Word of the Poison King's inheritance has spread. Martial artists will have flooded the place by now. I can't even use martial arts — I'd never make it out alive. Why would I go somewhere that dangerous?"
"……"
She panics when I say it's too dangerous.
"It's just delivering a letter and coming back."
"My life would be on the line."
"Isn't there some way?"
The moment I refuse on safety grounds, she starts clinging. She doesn't want to lose someone who knows the Poison King Valley's layout.
"If Miss Dang came along as my escort, I could consider it."
"Me? As your escort?"
"Your martial arts are strong. Mine aren't. So if you escort me, I can deliver the letter."
"Me as escort?"
"Let's be honest. You're worried about your father's safety. You want to go check yourself. But even the Family heads got hit in the Poison King Valley, so you can't go in. That's why you've been hesitating."
"……"
Bullseye. Dang Juju has nothing to say.
"Pay me well enough and I'll guide you through the Poison King Valley."
"Guide?"
"Yeah. Honestly, what you need right now isn't a letter delivered — it's finding the Family Chief. And for that, you need someone who knows the Poison King Valley."
"…You're right. I admit it. You're right."
"Good. So hire me as your guide."
"Fine. I'll do that. Ah — what's your name?"
"Hyeon Jitae! That's my name."
Inside the game, the Black Leopard Messenger's name is Hyeon Jitae. His age is set at twenty-six.
"Alright, Young Hero Hyeon! So if I go, you're coming with me?"
"Of course."
I need to stick close to Dang Juju.
Stick close, and the chance to take her will come.
With my current martial arts, forcing myself on Dang Juju is impossible. I have to persuade her somehow. That means no one around giving her advice, and time and space alone with me.
From that angle, going to the Poison King Valley just the two of us is a golden opportunity.
Dangerous place, man and woman alone — plenty of chances to get physically close.
"Alright. How much are you thinking for the fee?"
"This isn't ordinary messenger work. Lives are on the line. Even for a short job, twenty nyang minimum."
Honestly, money means nothing to me right now. Completing the heroine quest is what matters.
"Twenty nyang! Fine, twenty nyang it is. We're agreed?"
"Yeah, we're agreed. When do we leave?"
"I need permission from Mother and the family elders. We'll need weapons, provisions, all of that. It'll take a few days."
"You'll put me up in a guest room until then, right?"
"No problem. Plenty of empty rooms."
Done.
With that, I've successfully entered the Dang Family.
All that's left is taking Dang Juju when we're alone together.
I can't force it, but if we spend enough time together, the opportunity will come.
Take it easy.
"Here. This is your room, Young Hero Hyeon."
"Mm. Clean and nice."
I rest in the guest room Dang Juju showed me and check my quests.
First I need to see what quests are running here in Chengdu.
The Poison King Valley quest is definitely active.
Command: Display Quest List!
Regional quests for this area are as follows.
— Obtain an offensive martial art.
— Claim the Poison King's inheritance.
— Have sex with the Poison Heart Flower, Dang Juju.
— Complete a mother-daughter threesome with Dang Juju and her birth mother for a bonus reward.
— Have sex with the Dang Family's Second Matriarch, Jong Yak-hui, for a bonus reward.
Sure enough, quests related to the Sichuan Dang Family pop up one after another.
Poison King Valley quest and heroine quest, makes sense. Rank 1 sub-quest is just a basic starter. But bonus quests?
True to a humiliation game, sex-related quests are stacking up.
Are you kidding me? A mother-daughter threesome with Dang Juju and her birth mother? That means I have to take Dang Juju first, then take her mom too. Holy shit, the difficulty on that is insane.
What kind of bonus quest is harder than the actual heroine quest?
To pull off a mother-daughter threesome, I'd have to conquer both of them first. I'd have to finish the heroine quest before that one is even possible.