The Korea-Japan Catfight
"Did something happen?"
Manager Han Jia knew the moment she arrived that something had happened to us.
"Ah, there was a massive wild boar."
"A wild boar?"
"Yes. It looks like we'll need to be prepared the next time we go in."
We should have expected beasts like that to be in the jungle.
If it had snuck up on us from behind without my detection magic, one of us might have been seriously injured or killed.
After I finished speaking, I stared blankly at the manager.
"Ah."
Jia spoke with a dejected face.
"The rescue team... didn't come."
Manager Han Jia was recalling what had happened earlier that afternoon.
"You're not even his girlfriend, so why are you making that face?"
It was Amane Ruka, wanting to monopolize Kim Woojin, who fired the first shot.
Watching from the sidelines, Jia was startled.
Are girls these days all this aggressive?
It wasn't like that back in Jia's day. Back then, modesty was a virtue for women, and it was always the man who confessed.
"It's not like there's any problem with me getting close to Oppa, right?"
"I see. So you figured if you got on his good side, he'd share the fruit with you?"
Seoyun snorted, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"How very clever of you. Pretending to be in distress just to get his attention."
Is it really okay not to stop them?
But Ruka wasn't about to just take it lying down.
"But hey, Oppa was the one who found it, right? So shouldn't Oppa be the one to decide?"
Seoyun couldn't find a retort.
To outsiders, it might have looked like they found it together, but Seoyun knew that the credit for harvesting the fruit belonged almost entirely to Woojin.
The gyaru's sharp point—asking what right Seoyun had to claim ownership—shut Seoyun up.
"If you're saying I'm just freeloading, then what about you, big sis? Are you just standing next to him?"
Ruka's onslaught continued.
"If you get to eat just by saying 'no, no,' isn't that way more unfair?"
Aren't you the one leeching off Kim Woojin?
You're the unfair one.
Hearing Ruka say that, Seoyun completely snapped.
"Y-You insolent little brat...!"
Kang Seoyun was genuinely triggered.
Even without this, the favors Woojin had bestowed upon their group using his magic were immeasurable.
The other groups had ventured into the forest long ago, risking their lives to find fresh water and food—
And even the groups with surplus food were feeling immense stress over securing water.
It was Kim Woojin who allowed them to wait for the rescue team without at least those worries.
Seoyun felt that her own contributions were severely lacking.
To the highly prideful Seoyun, that fact was incredibly grating.
On top of that, she was already stressed because her position seemed to have swapped with the new recruit she had looked down on as an incompetent loser just a few days ago.
Ruka had poked right at that sore spot.
How are you any different from me?
Of course they were different.
Kang Seoyun wanted to believe she was different. She hadn't equipped herself with the shamelessness to rely solely on a pretty face and aegyo to get everything she wanted.
That was why she was so furious at being treated the same. I'm different from you.
I'm in the middle of finding my role—
"..."
Watching this unfold, Manager Han Jia felt a sharp pang in her chest.
In truth, the one most hurt by the argument between Assistant Manager Kang and the gyaru was Han Jia.
Because in her own mind, the one in this group who was only receiving and not pulling her weight wasn't Kang Seoyun—it was herself.
Kang Seoyun had contributed by participating in the jungle exploration.
But what about the manager?
She knew she had been coddled from the very beginning of the exploration just because she was the oldest.
Normally, she should have gone out to explore too. When it came to finding food and water, no one got a free pass.
Because of this, Ruka's attack hit Han Jia the hardest.
The food she ate, the water she drank.
She hadn't secured a single thing necessary for survival on her own; she had lived entirely on charity.
'What can I even do...?'
Han Jia toyed with her wedding ring and swallowed her tears.
She wanted to get off this island right this instant.
Being suddenly told to do whatever it takes to survive—this situation was absolute hell for Han Jia.
In a situation like this, she couldn't express how grateful she was to the younger ones for taking on the grueling work.
Assistant Manager Kang, Kim Woojin—
Back at the company, their positions were the exact opposite.
The manager was the guardian figure who looked after the clumsy contract worker, Kim Woojin.
While Assistant Manager Kang disliked him for his lack of work ethic, Jia actually thought it was more of a social skills issue than a lack of competence.
"Manager, I keep telling you, we need to hire someone who actually knows how to work."
"Hoho. If you teach him well, Assistant Manager Kang, I'm sure Woojin will do just fine."
It was also Jia who had told the constantly complaining Assistant Manager Kang to have faith in Woojin.
That kind of composure came from her experience dealing with many different people.
Kim Woojin might have seemed like an incompetent nuisance at a glance, but he had his own distinct way of handling things.
It just took time for his methods to harmonize with others.
She believed that once Assistant Manager Kang understood Woojin's style and learned how to utilize him properly, they would definitely create a great synergy.
'Until then, I'll watch his back.'
Back at Serin Cosmetics, Han Jia was a highly capable manager.
Dealing with notoriously prickly overseas buyers, she successfully aligned unit prices, MOQs, lead times, packaging, and the company's requirements with the buyers' demands, turning them into actual contracts.
While there were surely plenty of people in Korea who worked better than Han Jia, it was rare for a mid-sized company manager to handle product planning, sales planning, and lead time management all at once.
The problem was, those skills were utterly useless on this island.
There were no companies to coordinate with here, and no buyers to win contracts from.
Useless.
That thought had been faintly lingering in the depths of Han Jia's mind, and Ruka had dragged it right out into the open.
I have to do something.
Just leeching off them like this is too cruel.
I'm actively draining the survival chances of others.
But what could she do?
"I'm sorry for making you look at an old ajumma's body like mine."
"You are plenty attractive, Manager."
A memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
Han Jia was thirty-seven this year, ten years older than Woojin.
The fact that he, who was practically young enough to be a nephew, looked at her with those eyes was quite a shock.
Having been devoted to her family, she had never had the time to seriously consider how attractive she still was to men.
Her defensive instincts had always kicked in first, fearing people would gossip about her being a pathetic old woman if she still thought of herself as being in her prime.
But—
'Woojin... does he see me as a woman too?'
Jia thought that perhaps this body of hers might actually have some use.
Before the younger girls made their move...
'If it means I can go back to see my children, there's nothing I wouldn't do.'
Yulha, Ji-an...
Jia repeated her children's names in her heart.
"Woojin."
The manager quietly sidled up next to me.
Whoa. No bra, massive breasts.
As the jiggling drew closer, my eyes were helplessly drawn to them.
"Yes, Manager."
"You worked so hard exploring today~"
"It was nothing."
Thinking of a busty manager waiting for me at home makes me want to work hard.
I wonder if the manager's husband felt this way too?
The more I think about it, the more I envy her husband.
Han Jia glanced at me, looking as if she had more to say.
"You sweated a lot, right? Let me wash your clothes for you."
My clothes?
Come to think of it, I'd been wearing this suit for quite a while.
The suit my mom bought me for getting a job. Before that, I hadn't even bothered trying to get interviews, so I didn't have a single suit in my closet.
But since it was breathable and didn't restrict my movement, the thought of changing out of it hadn't crossed my mind.
I suppose that was natural, since it was tailored perfectly to my body.
Suddenly, I remembered Seoyun worrying about her own smell.
"Do I smell too?"
"Ah..."
Jia slurred her words, looking put on the spot.
"It has been a while since I washed."
"There is a bit of a sweat smell..."
"Understood. Then, could I trouble you with it?"
"Yes!"
A new recruit letting a manager way older than him do his laundry... how outrageous.
But I'm not the kind of man to refuse when she's offering.
In fact, I'll gladly accept.
"Assistant Manager Kang, you can give yours to me too. I've been resting, so I'll do it."
"Ah, then could I trouble you as well?"
I pulled out a decent pair of pants and a T-shirt from one of the passenger bags.
Honestly, clothes were the most abundant resource we had right now.
We were using them as sunshades and windbreaks for our temporary shelter, and even the things spread out on the ground were other people's clothes.
Since clothes were the easiest thing to farm from the passenger luggage...
I recalled how the women were especially frantic about farming underwear on the first day.
But I didn't need to rush.
Because I was the only one who could wear the men's clothing that fit my size.
'Should I wash first?'
I stepped into the edge of the jungle, hid behind a tree, and summoned water.
I slowly tested how high I could crank up the water pressure.
'Was it around this level when I attacked the wild boar earlier?'
Whoooosh!!
Oh, ohhh.
The water pressure is insane.
It wasn't meant for combat, but its performance as a shower was almost excessively good.
The hydro pump blasting up from the ground rattled my balls.
Dududududu—
This is oddly fun.
It would be nice if I could change the water temperature, but it's a shame I can only use lukewarm water.
Anyway, I grabbed some body wash—which, like the clothes, was scattered all over the passenger bags—and lathered it on.
I made bubbles. Then, I washed.
For someone stranded on a deserted island, I was washing myself in absolute luxury.
As I walked out, drying my wet hair with a towel, I thought I should have done this sooner.
Because we were shipwrecked, I had been thinking about everything conservatively, so the mindset of "don't do it unless it's absolutely necessary" must have become ingrained in me.
But...
Now that I was washed and changed into fresh clothes, it finally started to feel like I was actually living here.
Because it meant I was establishing a daily routine.
"You're back from washing?"
When I returned to the shelter, Seoyun raised her head.
"Yes. A bit luxuriously."
"..."
She looked envious.
"...You should try washing with seawater. You too, Woojin."
"...Pardon?"
"Nothing. It's nothing..."
"Would you like me to wash you too, Assistant Manager?"
"..."
Assistant Manager Kang's eyes widened for a split second before she looked away in embarrassment.
"If you're jealous, you should just say so."
"...But..."
Was she thinking, 'How can I ask you to give me water to wash?'
"Since we're living together, just tell me if you're uncomfortable or need a favor."
"Living together..."
Yes, literally cohabitating.
We practically slept together every night anyway.
"Then... could I ask a favor?"
Sure.
I decided to provide the water for the assistant manager to wash.
The principle was similar to when I opened the deserted island hair salon, but since she didn't want to put on a naked shower show,
I stood behind a tree and gathered the water like a raincloud, letting it pour down on her.
Shhhhhhh.
"Mnh, ahh. This feels so good."
The assistant manager was absolutely thrilled.
"I'll keep it going until you tell me to stop."
"Thank you, Woojin!"
She seemed to like this even more than when we found food.
It was a bit of a shame that I wouldn't be able to smell her natural scent anymore, but...
"Haa... Ah, you absolutely must not peek!"
"Yes, yes. I'm not looking, so go ahead and wash."
Listening to a woman washing her body right next to me was a fascinating experience.
When Seoyun finished washing and stepped out, she slumped down with a look of ultimate refreshment.
Meanwhile, the manager returned from washing the clothes, strung up a line on our makeshift drying rack, and hung them up.
It looked like she had used a bit of body wash or shampoo along with soap to wash them in seawater.
'It really feels like we're settling into a routine.'
Not just us, but everyone else was moving around busily.
The number of people staring blankly at the sea waiting for a rescue team had decreased.
In order to survive here, after all—
We had to endure the tedious tasks and row our own boat.
What should I do in the meantime?
Hmm.
If you want to survive, you have to do it—a clear and simple truth.
That was why I liked it; unlike back in society, my mind wasn't cluttered with useless thoughts.
If you don't do it, you die.
How simple.
'That wild boar.'
The next time we meet, I'll have to teach it the terror of humans.
More precisely, the terror of a human magician.
It wasn't that I'd never thought about using magic for lethal purposes, but this was the first time I was actually researching it.
I sat cross-legged, took a long breath, and focused my mind.
Shhhhh, the familiar sound of the waves stimulated my ears.
"What are you doing, Woojin?"
Kang Seoyun's voice drifted over.
"—Focusing my mind. I'm training."
"To beat up that wild boar?"
"Yes."
"Let's not... It's too dangerous..."
Opening my eyes, I saw Seoyun's frightened face.
...
Seeing her look at me like that only made me more stubborn.
"I'll be using magic, so it'll be fine."
"A new magic?"
"Yes."
I needed to become stronger.
The first meaning I had engraved was 'change.'
Because the first glyph I saw when I arrived here wasn't 'water,' but 'change.'
Adding a bit of imagination to form a hypothesis, my body was currently in the process of changing into one that could perceive mana.
I wanted to accelerate that change first.
I quietly observed how the flow of mana operated within my body.
It was an application of my Detection magic.
When I sensed things through mana, other people looked as if they were blocked along the outlines of their bodies, preventing mana from entering.
But my body had gaps.
Yet, mere gaps might not be enough.
I started by circulating it over and over, becoming aware of the impurities and pushing them out.
'I feel like my constitution is changing to make it easier to sense mana.'
This process consumed more stamina than I expected.
Sweat poured down like rain. Sometimes it got so tough that I had to brace my core and endure the pain.
Pushing out the impurities accumulated inside my body, and filling the void with the circulation of mana.
A time-consuming, tedious, and difficult task.
But—
It might actually be way more fun than corporate life.
I could feel my body changing.
Although there were no convenient system messages, I felt the thrill of gradually conquering it, relying purely on my senses.
'I've always been so lazy, sorry about that.'
If I had known the path of mana would welcome me like this, I would have visited much sooner...
Inhale...
'It's coming.'
Mana filled my mind with crystal clarity.
By the time one cycle finished, evening had fallen.
"Phew..."
As I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, the women's gazes locked onto me.
"Are you done? You were focusing so intensely it was almost scary."
"Yes."
Something had definitely changed.
Now, even without conscious effort, mana rushed in with every breath, swirling through my light, hollowed-out torso before exiting.
I wanted to test it. What kind of change had I undergone?
Just then...
"Oppa~ Are you awake?"
Ah, there was one more woman.
Ruka threw herself into my arms without hesitation, holding the fruit we had harvested in her hand...
"Can Ruka eat this~? Oppa, please? Pretty please?"
"...?"
Was that Korean?
My surprise at Ruka's fluent Korean lasted only a moment before I realized what was actually happening.
I was the one understanding her.
My brain was naturally translating it into my native tongue—
In that case, if I spoke with the meaning loaded into the arrangement I understood, would it get through to her?
"Just eat one. And say thank you."
Seoyun stared at me in surprise.
But Ruka, as if she understood perfectly, beamed.
"Thanks, thank you! Oppa, I love you so much! ♡"