Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Main Event
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Strictly speaking, there were no such things as main events in this world.
From one to ten, it was all just situations and choices designed to screw you over.
Yet, countless players like me had dubbed certain events as "main" ones anyway—because those choices were pivotal branching points that were just that crucial.
The graduation party hosted by Korea's Hunter Management Bureau.
That was where Cynthia would make her first real connection with Choi Si-hyeok.
Sure, they wouldn't get seriously entangled until she transferred to the Hunter Class in the second semester, but this party was still the starting point of the NTR storyline—and a critically important event for that reason.
For me—Kang Woojin, stuck at home sucking my thumb—there wasn't much I could actually do in this event.
This shitty game was built entirely around choices for, by, and of NTR from the get-go.
The best strategy for players was to rack up affection with the heroine in the prologue and keep her from going to the party altogether.
If you absolutely had to send her, the next-best option was picking up a wasted, blackout-drunk Cynthia afterward.
There was no third option.
If you hadn't built up enough affection and screwed up twice in a row, it was straight to Bad Ending (2).
Cynthia getting blackout drunk nursing a glass of booze alone in that awkward party hall.
Choi Si-hyeok pretending to be all kind and attentive to her, unlike how he acted at the academy.
And Kang Woojin staying silent the whole time.
The ending those three led to was obvious as day.
No need to even imagine it.
'Anyway, that's just how it was back when it was a game.'
Reflecting on my position, I messaged her back through my smartphone.
[You don't wanna go? Why?]
Maybe because we'd built up some solid affection.
For once, Cynthia was actually consulting me about something.
[Just... it feels uncomfortable. I wanna see you too, Woojin...]
She trailed off after saying something so sweet.
She was clearly asking me to stop her.
Tell her not to go.
Forget the stupid party and stay by my side—that's what Cynthia wanted to hear.
[Still, wouldn't it be better if you went? It's an important event.]
But I shattered her expectations outright, playing the cool-headed Tper C as I laid out the logical case.
[It's your chance to network with big shots from all the guilds. For your future, Sia, you should go. Business always starts at places like that.]
[But it's my first time at something like this...]
[Didn't you make a friend? Kim So-yeon or whatever? What's there to worry about with her there?]
[Mm...]
[Everyone else will feel just as awkward and out of place as you, so don't stress too much. You're not alone in that.]
I did my best to bolster Cynthia's courage.
Thinking about the original story, wouldn't it be better to keep her from going?
No—I've already decided to hijack the events, and my head was full of plans to screw over the NTR guys.
I wasn't like the original protagonist, holed up alone sucking his thumb.
How could I troll the NTR guys?
How could I make their despair even deeper, more crushing?
How could I humiliate them and shatter their bodies and minds?
Ever since possessing this world, that was all I thought about.
I'd even considered banging the families of those backstabbing bitches, right down to their eighth cousins by marriage.
But even that felt too unrealistic, no matter how you sliced it.
Even if I chugged stamina-boosting elixirs and became some kind of sex king, handling dozens or hundreds of women wasn't feasible.
'The family tree would get all tangled up like a dog's.'
Hitting Choi Si-hyeok's mom and pulling a "your mom's hot" would have the guild master of Hwameong Guild—one of Korea's four great guilds—coming after me, for starters.
For me, it was smarter to use the NTR guys' peripheral characters as sparingly as possible.
Above all, leveraging the heroines and the events around them was the way to go.
Especially considering the fallout.
[Got it, Woojin-ah. You're right. I'll go to the party tomorrow.]
Cynthia, who'd been mulling it over, replied with a resolute tone.
[Good call. Hey, Sia, you got a party outfit? You're not planning to go in casuals or uniform, right?]
[Don't worry about that. So-yeon said the hotel's lending them out.]
[Go bold with it. Might as well make a real impression while you're at it.]
[That's embarrassing... but okay. I'll think about it.]
[Cool. Hit me up if anything comes up.]
[Thanks, Woojin-ah.]
After hanging up, I stretched long and hard, surveying the house.
'Guess it's time to pack up this place too.'
Time to start shoving Choi Si-hyeok into the gutters for real.
Just imagining it sent tingles through my body.
Was I turning into a real perv or what?
Ding-dong!
Not long after, the doorbell rang.
"Come in, Ji-ho hyung."
An Ji-ho, who'd given advance notice, had arrived at my place.
"You didn't have to bring it all the way here."
After the perfunctory line, I led him to the living room.
"Thanks, hyung."
"Yeah. You holding up okay? Good color in your face, at least."
"I got plenty of rest at the hospital. Thanks to you guys looking out for me."
"Just doing what needed doing."
After some brief small talk, An Ji-ho handed me a wooden box.
A gift box prettily wrapped with a ribbon.
"This is..."
"What're you playing dumb for? You were probably waiting for this more than me."
"Haha, that obvious?"
I chuckled awkwardly and opened the box to reveal a small bracelet gleaming elegantly.
"Usage is straightforward. I appraised it with my ability—top-grade stuff. Just wearing it on your wrist will conceal your mana from leaking out."
As An Ji-ho said, I slipped it on.
"Doesn't feel like much changed."
"That's why it's top-grade."
"So no one can detect my mana now?"
"Don't get too cocky. Nothing's absolute in this world. A hunter with sharp detection skills might still pick up on it."
"Gotcha. How does it even work?"
I asked, eyeing the bracelet's pretty lousy design.
"I'm no expert, so I can't explain perfectly, but from what I hear, it syncs your mana waves with the ambient mana. Think of it like matching frequencies. Technically, it's concealment, not blocking."
"I see."
"That said, don't worry too much—it's not getting sniffed out unless a top detection hunter's right nearby."
I nodded at An Ji-ho's helpful explanation and advice.
"By the way, what're your plans going forward?"
He followed up.
"You gonna keep doing mana crystal mining?"
My answer was set.
"If there's work, sure. Not many gigs pay that well."
The money was nice, but the real draw was stacking mana in gates and such.
"Then you'll keep helping out our guild?"
"Of course. Honestly, I'm a bit hurt. I already thought we were like family—did you have to spell it out?"
"Ahaha, glad you see it that way."
"We're in the same boat already. You were the one who said to treat it casual from the start, Ji-ho hyung."
"True, true. We've crossed the line between life and death together—we're family at this point."
An Ji-ho patted my shoulder lightly with a bright smile.
"Just so you know, our guild won't be sticking to mining forever."
"Sounds like that double gate haul was pretty lucrative."
"Yeah. Could even say it's all thanks to you. We're gearing up the members and expanding. That means we can start taking official gate raids."
I grinned along with An Ji-ho, his eyes sparkling with ambition.
"Speaking of work, wanna hear some good info?"
And with that, I shared some juicy intel.
Details on gates that hadn't surfaced yet—not even discovered by the Management Bureau.
* * *
Buzzing with excitement, An Ji-ho headed out to verify the info I'd given him.
He wasn't swallowing it wholesale, but even so, the guy—who'd been a civilian until recently—was bothering to check my word.
'What a good dude.'
Using my clairvoyance, I enhanced my vision and, thanks to the bracelet's effect, watched his retreating figure.
Until he shrank to a dot and vanished.
'Mana drain ramps up the farther the clairvoyance range goes.'
I was testing my abilities.
Ever since awakening in that double gate, I could use them as naturally as breathing.
But controlling them like regulating breath was a whole other story.
Clairvoyance, presence concealment.
And sensory manipulation.
I relentlessly practiced mastering the abilities I had.
Perfect timing too—I'd told Yoo Harin not to come today.
I roamed the mansion inside and out, then the whole neighborhood, honing my skills.
'Presence concealment and sensory manipulation are trickier than I thought.'
Practicing till my mana bottomed out, the sun had already set.
If I could do that wuxia-style meditation to recover mana endlessly, I could train nonstop.
Unfortunately, this world had limits on artificial mana recovery.
The classic was potions, but most hunters relied on natural regen—that was the lore.
"Hoo."
Finishing up, I caught my breath in a corner of the park.
"Mommy, mommy! That big brother suddenly appeared out of the sky over there."
"Really? How mysterious∼?"
A random mother-daughter pair strolling the park spotted me.
"Let's hurry home and eat dinner∼."
Luckily, the mom didn't seem too interested in strangers.
I put a finger to my lips and shushed the girl who'd locked eyes with me, swearing her to secrecy.
She looked about seven or eight.
The cute, chubby-cheeked girl mimicked me, finger to lips, nodding vigorously.
Maybe it was kids like her that kept this world's hunters holding onto some sense of heroic duty.
Swish.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I slipped quietly out of the park.
"Come to think of it, it's been a while since I hit the gym."
Mana scraping bottom but stamina full, I headed to the fitness center.
I hadn't totally neglected workouts during my hospital stay, but it wasn't the same as proper gym sessions.
'Might as well work the upper body today.'
I was mid-set, happily pumping the barbell.
"Excuse me, are you Kang Woojin by any chance?"
A woman approached, wafting clouds of perfume.
I could've been annoyed at the interruption, but surprisingly, I wasn't.
Guess I wasn't cut out to be a gym bro after all.
"Uh, yeah..."
Scratching my head as I looked at the vaguely familiar face.
Couldn't quite recall her name.
"I'm A-young. Park A-young."
"Oh, right. Hi, A-young-ssi."
She was the nurse's aide from urology—the one I'd owed a debt to.
"Fancy running into you here, Woojin-ssi. How've you been?"
Park A-young smiled coyly, eyes crinkling.
She'd doused herself in perfume and wore tight, subtly revealing workout gear.
Her outfit screamed ulterior motives as she kept smiling and continued.
"How's nighttime been treating you since then?"
She was asking about the procedure's effects.
"Not bad. Actually, I'm pretty satisfied. It's like a new lease on life, thanks to you."
I hadn't actually tested it with sex yet, but I shrugged and answered nonchalantly.
"Any side effects?"
"None so far."
Park A-young blatantly eyed me up and down.
They say people live up to their names.
True to hers(?), she was living earnestly—reaching out to lightly touch my arm.
Something about teaching her form.
Or spotting her.
Seemed like beating around the bush wasn't her style.
"Your body's in amazing shape."
As she openly seduced me, she glanced out the window and added,
"If you're okay with it, Woojin-ssi, could I give you a follow-up check?"
"Follow-up?"
"Just to confirm the procedure took. Make sure there's no issues with your... equipment, blood flow, that sort of thing."
No reason for me to refuse.
Didn't know they offered aftercare like this.
"Is it free?"
"Of course∼."
"Purely medical, right?"
"Naturally."
"Well, can't be helped then."
"Exactly. It's unavoidable."
Unavoidable my ass.
Exchanging grins with her, I dropped the dumbbells and left the gym.
"Let's hit a motel nearby."
Silently apologizing to Korea's nine million gym bros.