Chapter 144: The First District (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: The First District (1)
From various theories and practical training to one-on-one and group matches.
After taking all our exams—a workload easily one and a half times that of midterms—it was already mid-December.
Classes all came to an end, and winter break finally began.
“Heh, winter break.”
It was a novel feeling to have a break again, something I hadn't experienced in decades.
It was enough to make me realize anew that I was living the vibrant life of a twenty-year-old.
As I was wondering how to spend the more than two months I had until school started again, Im Na-eun, who was sitting next to me, spoke up.
“Do-jin…”
“Yeah?”
As expected, we were maintaining the same relationship as before on the surface.
Well… strictly speaking, it wasn't exactly the same.
The problem was that our one-night stand had closed the distance between us to nearly zero.
We'd touched and fucked so much that physical affection had become incredibly natural between us, leading to more than a few close calls.
“What are you doing for the break…?”
Im Na-eun asked, her expression a mix of worry and excitement.
I had a good idea of the anxieties and expectations she was feeling.
She was probably worried we wouldn't see each other often, but also hopeful that the relatively free time of the break would let us try… various things (?) together.
“Hmm, I don't know…”
Right now, my break schedule was a complete blank slate.
It had been so long since I’d had a break that, unlike the other kids, I hadn't gotten excited and made any plans at all.
But a part of that schedule had just been filled.
Just this very moment.
“If I had to say…”
I whispered into the ear of the girl who was squirming at my uncertain answer.
“Maybe just taking care of my little bitch?”
“Haah…”
The moment my whisper ended, Im Na-eun let out a soft moan and slumped back in her chair.
When I asked what was wrong, she replied.
“I-I got a little wet…”
“…Why, though?”
When I asked back in a baffled tone, Im Na-eun whispered in my ear, her face flushed.
“Your master’s voice just gets me so excited…”
“……”
What she called my “master’s voice” was the one I used when I was playing the part of her master.
I hadn't realized it, but she once told me there's a subtle difference in my tone between my normal voice and my master voice.
She said my usual tone was a bright mix over a low-mid range, while my master voice was heavier and more subdued, or something like that.
Since whispering naturally requires lowering one's voice, it must have sounded similar to that.
“It strikes me again, but… you really are a natural-born bitch.”
“Hnng… th-thank you.”
That wasn’t a compliment…
I was getting seriously worried.
If she was showing her bitchy side so readily with so many people around, I was worried she was going to start panting in front of Shin Yu-jeong one of these days.
“Um, but…”
“What is it?”
I asked lightly, and Im Na-eun started fidgeting with her fingers as she struggled to get the words out.
“C-can I call you first…?”
What’s this?
Don't tell me that just because she’s a slave, she needs permission even to call first… Is that how it works?
The world of masters and slaves is deeper than I thought…
My head was suddenly starting to ache.
“Call me whenever you miss me. Of course, I might not be able to see you every time, but I can always take a call.”
Moved by her master’s generosity, Im Na-eun nodded vigorously.
“Okay…!”
Watching her act like the textbook definition of a bitch, I made a sudden resolution.
“…I’ll try harder, too.”
“Huh? At what…?”
“It’s something.”
I resolved to work harder to become a master worthy of her.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was the first dinner after the break started.
As I was emptying my rice bowl, picking at the unusually large number of side dishes one by one, Jeong-hee spoke to Yu-jeong and me, her eyes sparkling.
“Are you two busy during the break?”
“Yeah, I’ve got training.”
“Oh, I see…”
Jeong-hee’s face fell at her daughter’s curt reply.
It seemed like there was something she wanted to do.
I nudged the girl—who could be more clueless than a guy sometimes—in the ribs and tried to smooth things over for Jeong-hee.
“We’ll be busy, but not every single day. I think we can probably free up a few days…?”
Finally grasping the situation, Shin Yu-jeong continued my thought.
“Uh, yeah. A few days should be fine…”
Whether our act worked or not, Jeong-hee’s sullen expression quickly turned into a smile.
Then she said.
“Then how about we all go on a trip?”
“A trip?”
“…All of a sudden?”
At our bewildered reactions, Jeong-hee continued with an excited look.
“Maybe it’s because my body’s young again, but I just want to try everything!”
I knew the feeling.
When I first got this body, hadn't I been fired up with the desire to do all the things I couldn't when I was young?
Shin Yu-jeong asked her with an indifferent expression.
“So where do you want to go?”
“A ski resort!”
“…You want to learn to ski?”
“Yes! It seemed too hard before, but now I feel confident I can learn it well!”
Seeing Jeong-hee’s motivated expression, Shin Yu-jeong glanced at me.
Her expression seemed to ask what we should do.
When I gave a quiet nod, the girl shot me a dissatisfied glare before finally accepting her mother’s proposal.
“Aish, fine. Let’s go, let’s go.”
“Are you really going? Do-jin, you too?”
“Yes, I’ll go too.”
“Hoho! Oh, wonderful. Then when should we go? When are you two free?”
Carried away by her excitement, her bulldozer-like drive had us setting a date.
The departure date was set for December 31st.
An ambitious date, chosen with the plan to ski our hearts out and watch the first sunrise of the new year before coming back.
Shin Yu-jeong worried if it would even be possible to get a reservation on the 31st, the busiest day for travelers, but Jeong-hee confidently told her not to worry.
“Don’t worry! Mom will book everything, so you two just have to show up!”
“……”
When she puts it like that, what choice did I have but to trust her?
Without even finishing her rice, Jeong-hee immediately dashed to her room to make reservations. After cleaning up in her stead, I returned to my room.
“Ahhh, this is nice…”
Lying down on the preheated electric blanket was pure heaven.
The situation was perfect: the chilly air unique to a rooftop room—hotter in the summer and colder in the winter—filled my lungs, while my back was being toasted by the warmth.
Totally my style.
They say sleep comes naturally with a warm back and a full stomach.
Just as I was slowly letting my eyelids fall in this perfect-for-sleeping situation…
A message window suddenly appeared.
[In a moment, the path to the Sanctuary will open.]
[Those who possess a key, please stand by with the key on your person.]
[Time remaining: 03:48:12]
“…I’m not even mad anymore.”
It’d be nice if they gave a week’s notice for messages like this.
Sometimes I even wonder if the so-called “administrators” who send these messages are Korean.
Their hasty management style reminds me of how the Hunter Association was run in the early days.
“But what do I do?”
Shoddy management aside, there was a bigger problem.
The key.
“Am I a guy with a key, or a guy without one?”
I definitely had a key, but now I didn't.
Because my dear Kkamseul-i, currently wriggling around on the floor, gobbled it right up.
“Hey, Kkamseul.”
Hop?
“Come on.”
Hop!
My dear Kkamseul-i recognized my gesture and came running right over.
“Aigoo, Kkamseul-ah…”
Hop?
Seeing its innocent expression, even my anger subsided.
Right.
What did this little glutton do wrong?
The one at fault is the guy who put the key in the same box as this glutton.
It seemed this whole thing had nothing to do with me, the one who’d lost the key.
“Sigh, I should just sleep.”
I was already sleepy anyway. I might as well get some deep sleep.
* * *
Whoosh—
“Ugh… cold…”
My half-awakened mind began to fill with questions.
I’d blocked every door and window, so where was this cold wind coming from? And where in the world did the heat from my electric blanket go?
My thoughts accelerated, and finally, my heavy eyelids slowly lifted.
The first thing he saw when he managed to open his eyes was…
“…What the hell is this?”
A ruin, filled with a cold, damp energy.
Snapping fully awake, he shot up and looked around with bleary eyes.
As his pupils widened, all he could see were the ruins of shattered and collapsed buildings in a vast cityscape.
It was absurd.
“I was sleeping so well, what is all this…”
Where did my room with its fantastic harmony of cold air and a warm electric blanket go? Why was I suddenly here?
His increasingly alert mind recalled the message he had seen before falling asleep.
He hurriedly opened his status window to check, and just as he expected…
The message log he had skipped over was still there.
Kim Do-jin read them from the top.
[In a moment, the user will be guided to the place where the Sanctuary sleeps.]
[You have entered ‘World Swept by Ruin, Sector 1.’]
[Find the Sanctuary sleeping somewhere in the city and open its locked door.]
“……”
…But I told you, I don’t have a key.