Chapter 125: The Traitorous Nephew
“That nephew was the problem.”
“Yes...... He had his own agenda.”
I could predict how the rest of the story unfolded. But it wasn't my place to spell it out.
“He started sowing discord among the members first. Spreading rumors that certain people were hogging the distribution shares despite lacking the skills—targeting the original members, obviously. The new recruits, who were splashing money around like water, followed the equipment company's nephew since he took good care of them. Unable to stand it, the original members started leaving the guild one by one. In the end, only my friend and I—the guild master—were left. We talked it over. Since the nephew was clearly ruining the guild's atmosphere, we decided to tough it out until the contract ended. Kicking him out midway would have caused massive losses. We'd not only lose the guild but get saddled with enormous debt. So we endured the remaining year of the contract, holding on stubbornly. My friend faced ridiculous accusations and attacks within the guild, but since we'd talked it through, she just endured silently. When she wouldn't budge, I became the next target. It felt like the guild we'd built had a new owner. Every day was agony. Then the accident happened......”
Kim Se-in closed her eyes in pain. After several deep breaths, she continued.
“It was a dungeon we always raided, and we were progressing as usual, but my friend got attacked by a monster and died. The guild operated in two main teams at the time, so I wasn't there. My personal investigation pointed to two causes. One was discord among team members—my friend, the close-range dealer, didn't get proper backup. The other was faulty equipment......”
“Faulty equipment?”
Come to think of it, I recalled that Kim Se-in was wearing extremely worn-out gear. If she'd contracted with an equipment company and received support, she wouldn't have been using stuff like that.
“The cause was never officially determined. But I was convinced by gut feeling. My friend had mentioned it often lately—issues cropping up with her gear.”
“But why......”
Didn't she replace or repair it? There seemed to be an obvious reason lurking there. If problems suddenly arose with the gear, the supplier might have tampered with it. No way they'd admit it, and trusting them for repairs would be out of the question.
“My friend thought she could use it to her advantage. If she could prove the supplied equipment was defective, they could terminate the contract early. I should have realized how dangerous that idea was......”
Kim Se-in's voice trailed off almost to a whisper. I pulled her into a tight embrace. Regaining her strength in my arms, she went on.
“After sending my friend off like that, I was consumed by vengeance. I couldn't just wait out the contract—I needed to cut ties with them as soon as possible. That's when the brazen offers started coming in. Hand over the guild to them. It was an absurd amount of money, but if I gave up the guild, it'd betray the promises I'd made to the original members and my dead friend's expectations. There was only one way. Scrape together as much money as possible, pay the penalty, and end the contract early. That's why I went into the dungeon alone. I couldn't trust the members anymore, and I needed the cash......”
Everything clicked into place. Why she'd entered the dungeon in that shabby gear. Why she'd soloed raids while running the guild. Maybe her fate was sealed from the start. If those bastards had killed once, what was twice? They probably had a secret route into the dungeon. The management office staff didn't seem complicit—the director and employees appeared genuine. Meeting me inside was sheer luck for her.
“Don't worry.”
I held her close.
“Now that you've met me, everything will be fine. We can do it now.”
I looked into her face and said,
“Revenge.”
“Sung-gi......”
Kim Se-in gazed at me with moist eyes. How much had she suffered? Though we'd just met today, her pain felt personal. Now that she'd been exposed to my ability and we'd shared our bodies, her revenge was essentially my responsibility.
I felt grateful. At first, I'd relied on the women for help, but now I had the power to protect them. This would showcase my evolved abilities and status.
I kissed Kim Se-in's lips. Without a word, we began exploring each other's bodies. Thus, our second round began in full sobriety, with neither of us passing out.
#
“So that's the story.”
The next day, I called Kang A-jin, Valentina, and Lisa to recount yesterday's events. After hearing Kim Se-in's tale, Kang A-jin nodded gravely. She rarely showed emotion unless it involved me, but this time her expression was bitterly empathetic. Lisa's blank face was par for the course, but Valentina tilted her head, fixating on something else.
“Hold on, darling.”
She asked me,
“Darling, you said you injected mana into this woman? And only the kind she wanted?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Oh my god!”
Valentina jolted in surprise, shoulders hunching.
“Darling, don't you get what that means?”
“What does it mean?”
I figured whatever Valentina said would tie back to something sexual. But it wasn't quite what I expected.
“It means you can grow women exactly as much as you want~ Through sex, that is.”
“Huh?”
I already knew sex with women affected by Unreasonable Favor led to mutual growth. But that didn't seem to be her point. Then it hit me.
“Ah!”
“Exactly! You could make Eun-bi and A-young S-rank. This girl too.”
She had a point. The mana I'd used to heal Kim Se-in came from Park Hyun-jun and Kim Hyun-cheol. Even if unspecified, it was useless S-rank hunter mana to me, but I'd shoved it into her. Injecting that into promising A-rankers like Kim Eun-bi and Jo A-young could realistically push them to S-rank. It wasn't the incremental growth from regular sex—this was direct mana transfer proportional to what I poured in. Kim Se-in was already strong enough to solo A-rank dungeons, so maybe...
I glanced her way, only to see her face hardened.
“Sung-gi.”
Kim Se-in said calmly.
“Who are these people? Why are they calling you 'darling'? And they seem awfully intimate.”
Oh no. I'd talked a lot with Kim Se-in yesterday but skipped the crucial part. She had no idea about my close relationships with multiple women. She didn't know she wasn't the only one affected by Unreasonable Favor.
“W-Well......”
Her expression suggested sparks would fly without a proper explanation. Having had her first time with me, she probably wasn't very experienced. Plus, her aura screamed propriety—likely conservative about this stuff.
“Hohoho.”
Valentina suddenly burst out laughing.
“Darling, you haven't told her yet?”
What was so funny in this serious moment? Thank goodness Kang A-jin was here—serious and good at explaining.
“Se-in.”
“Yes.”
Kim Se-in replied coolly to Kang A-jin's call.
“If Se-in wants to get close to Sung-gi, there's something you must keep in mind.”
“What is it?”
“Sung-gi isn't yours alone.”
Oof. Even Kang A-jin, whom I thought handled explanations well, went straight for the jugular. Predictably, Kim Se-in's face stiffened further.
“What do you mean by that?”
Kang A-jin began explaining. Thankfully, the rest wasn't as blunt. It was something I couldn't fathom saying myself—lacking the shamelessness since it involved me—but she laid it out persuasively. She must have developed some know-how from doing this a few times. Though constantly foisting it on her wasn't fair.
Surprisingly, after hearing it all, Kim Se-in nodded cautiously.
“I see......”