Twenty Million Overnight

Sunlight slipping through the blackout curtains of the motel room pulled my eyes open on its own. At the same time, my hand registered the soft, yielding warmth of a woman's body.

Ah... right. We went hunting last night.

Looking at Song Dayoung, still fast asleep and naked beside me, a strange wave of feeling washed over me. Everything from the hunting bar to stumbling into this motel and the scorching night that followed replayed through my head like a panorama.

How long has it been since I last woke up in the same bed as a woman?

Cha Heejung — whether she was just an early riser or simply refused to let anyone see her bare face — always got up first, finished her makeup, and then woke me. And Seong Gaeul before her? We'd never even gone to a motel together, let alone spent the night.

Since I was already up, I grabbed my phone and a cigarette and headed for the bathroom.

Fssst—

The first thing I did while drawing in a lungful of nicotine was, naturally, check the Sex Coin app.

"Hoo~ Wonder how much I mined."

About 45,000 coins. It was the first time I'd mined two people in a single day, but running the numbers, there didn't seem to be any kind of penalty.

But the Satisfaction actually went down?

Yesterday's was 91, today's 88. Considering those two mining sessions had been one continuous stretch through the same night, it was a surprising result. If Satisfaction was supposed to be the peak of what she felt that day, it shouldn't have been that easy for it to drop just because the date rolled over...

A stamina issue? Or maybe the alcohol was wearing off?

It was also possible her Satisfaction had dipped because she'd started worrying about pregnancy after I came inside her. A little disappointing, sure, but this was more than enough.

The withdrawable amount was twenty-two million won. Even accounting for the Sex Coins I'd already been holding, the money I'd made from this one-night stand was over twenty million.

Twenty million won???

Wait. Is this for real? Seriously? This is my money?

I rubbed my eyes and blinked, but the number on the screen didn't change. I had no intention of withdrawing every last Sex Coin, of course, but that figure still blew past anything I'd imagined. Barely a month ago I'd been a regular part-timer at a chicken shop. When had I ever laid hands on money like this? And it wasn't even something I'd saved up over time — it was money I'd made in a single night. Thinking about that, I didn't envy Park Sangyoon one bit. Put bluntly, that guy had taken on real risk, rolling his money to grow it that much. Me? I'd just spent the night with a woman, and twenty million won had appeared.

Fucking jackpot!

I wasn't desperate for cash right this second, so I opened the shop in the app.

Still a bit short for an Appearance Change Ticket... should I just pull an Ability?

Stamina wasn't lacking yet, and Item Gacha was out of the question from the start. But even Ability Gacha, which happened to fit my budget perfectly, didn't exactly excite me.

Every single Trait Gacha pull had been a winner. Drinking, Singing, and Dancing, optimized for picking up women. Correct Posture, which helped with everything from the smallest body movements to sex itself. And Immune Constitution — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the absurd, too-good-to-be-true trait that meant you'd never catch a single disease, something any human being would want.

Ability Gacha, on the other hand? Aura, honestly, I still had no idea when I was supposed to use it. Sure, it'd gotten me a girl's number once while I was working, but it was a white elephant of an ability — the kind that could turn even a close relationship into an awkward one. And Contraception? Not having to worry about pregnancy was nice, but I couldn't shake the feeling I'd gotten ripped off. Condoms and other birth control methods could do the same job just fine.

Is pulling another Ability with 40,000 coins really the right call?

I was just sinking into that happy dilemma of how to spend my Sex Coins when a knock came at the bathroom door.

Knock, knock—

"You in there?"

Song Dayoung's voice drifted in from outside. It was a little husky from just waking up, but last night's moans started playing back in my head all on their own.

"Yeah, just gonna shower. Be right out."

I set the burner phone down first and picked up the showerhead.

"Take care getting home. If you ever come up to Seoul to hang out, hit me up~."

"Yeah. You take care too, Dayoung!"

I said my goodbyes to Song Dayoung and boarded the subway. We'd exchanged numbers, but I didn't really expect either of us to stay in touch once I was back in Cheonan. And when was I going to have another reason to come to Seoul, anyway?

And now she doesn't even have the Spiderweb trait anymore...

If I actually ended up in Seoul again someday and had time to kill, I might shoot her a message. But the odds of us meeting again were basically zero, weren't they?

A lot of people had gotten off at the station where I got on, so I lucked into an empty seat and pulled out my phone. Not the burner with the Sex Coin app — my actual phone. I sent a message to the group chat with Park Sangyoon and Kim Jiho, which had been quiet since yesterday.

That bastard Sangyoon... so he pulled it off? Knowing last night's effort hadn't been for nothing made me feel pretty proud of myself.

That aside, so Jiho was the only one who didn't hit a home run last night?

The guy who was always so popular with women, striking out all by himself — something about that felt deliciously twisted. I didn't even try to hold back the grin spreading across my face as I typed.

The photo he sent was a selfie with a bed in the background. Kim Jiho, shirtless with his hair a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠greasy mess, and a woman asleep beside him. She'd covered the important parts with the blanket, but you could tell at a glance she was naked.

What the hell is this psycho sending me?

I'd just been subjected to a dirty photo on the subway against my will, and I hurriedly fired off a message.

Of course. The one who looks the most innocent is always the most dangerous. Talking with your buddies about who you slept with is one thing, but taking a picture? That's just disrespectful to the girl, isn't it...?

But the guy who'd just appeared in the group chat apparently felt differently, because he was busy expressing his regret.

Is he insane? Why would you save that?

The thought that had popped into my head came out as a message before I could stop it. Seriously, why would you even—

Birds of a feather. Of course they were.

And these are my friends...

A sigh escaped on its own. Who was I supposed to blame? I was the one who'd made friends with guys like this back in high school.

Unlike my conflicted feelings, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the filthy conversation in the group chat kept right on going.

I didn't have it in me to keep following a conversation that filthy on the subway, so I shoved my phone into my pocket. Leaning back against the seat and closing my eyes, I felt a strange mix of things. I'd somehow pulled off the one-night stand, and I'd mined a mountain of Sex Coins, but a faint disappointment lingered. I'd come all the way to Seoul to go clubbing, and I was heading back to Cheonan without so much as catching a glimpse of the first letter in "club."

And now I'm twenty-five. Halfway to fifty...

I still feel like that twenty-year-old who just started university, but after the military and everything else, I can't believe it's already come to this.

Ah well. Time to just go home.

It had only been a day, but emotionally it had felt endlessly long. My little Seoul excursion was over, and I was finally heading home.