Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Each One's Circumstances
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"Then we'll be off, so stay safe and guard the house well. Got it?"
Ye Socheon and the Sword Empress were about to depart to confront the Blood Cult. Dang Ayoung and I stood at the front gate, seeing them off.
This battle aimed to inflict maximum damage on the Blood Cult if possible—even total extermination. Everyone had to stay serious.
Ye Socheon and the Sword Empress had used their connections to assemble a small group of trusted allies and devise a plan. Dang Ayoung and I had no roles in it.
The lowest realm among them was at least Super First Rate. What could Dang Ayoung or I even do there?
Us staying quietly at home was the best way we could help.
If we stuck our necks out and got hurt—or worse, captured as hostages—we'd just be a liability.
"Shaanxi has good public order anyway, and the Poison Lord's residence is fairly close to the Murim Alliance. Even if something happens, we can handle it just fine. Plus, the Poison Lord himself isn't one to take lightly."
"Leave it to me! I'll protect it with my life."
"Mm-hmm."
From the perspective of outliers like Ye Socheon or the Sword Empress, Dang Ayoung had nothing to do. But objectively, she was a martial artist who far surpassed ordinary people.
She could more than handle threats from small-time crooks trying to exploit the chaos around the Divine Tournament's secret annex for a quick score.
The notion that a man should protect a woman had long vanished from my mind.
Sure, I was weak, but how had my life ended up filled only with such formidable women?
The items I had now were only effective for surprise attacks. Nothing boosted my actual combat power. There were options in the shop window, but they were prohibitively expensive. My body wasn't even built for martial arts, and with my dantian ruined, expecting anything from it was like hoping a rat could beat a cat in a fight. The most I could realistically hope for was a long, healthy life without illness.
"Ah, right. Take this with you."
As I pondered the shop window and my inventory inwardly, I remembered something worth handing over. *Clink*
"I can't say where I got it, but drink it if you suffer a serious wound. It'll help."
It was the potion I'd received from the Saintess long ago.
She'd sent it as an aphrodisiac, but its stamina recovery was supposedly on par with an elixir.
The Saintess herself had told me to save it for emergencies rather than casual use, so passing it to Ye Socheon should be fine.
She and the Sword Empress would face far more danger than Dang Ayoung or I.
Ye Socheon examined the potion closely, then accepted it with a subtle expression.
"Well, it's obviously from that white witch. I know you communicate with her periodically."
"...It should still be effective."
"Yes. I don't understand the principles, but I've heard that world has many mysterious items. I won't turn it down—especially since we're facing demons from that very world. As the saying goes, even poison can be medicine in a pinch."
"Haha..."
Ye Socheon clearly didn't care for the Saintess.
Considering vampires from the fantasy world had crossed over and wreaked havoc here, it was hard for her to feel fondly toward the Saintess.
Especially since failure meant this world could face annihilation too.
"Of course, that woman would never harm you, but still—be cautious. Don't trust her too much."
"Come on, I'm not a kid."
"...I don't know exactly how she speaks to you, but never let your guard down. After all, the terror of someone with nothing to lose..."
Ye Socheon spoke gravely for a moment, then suddenly fell silent as if stopped by something.
"...Tch."
She clicked her tongue and turned away, striding forward.
I had no idea what that was about, but I didn't want to get caught in the middle of women's drama. Cautiously, I turned to the Sword Empress.
"Sword Empress, don't you have anything to say before you go?"
"M-Me?"
"You're heading into danger. You should say something before leaving."
"Hmm... It's not that I have nothing to say, but..."
As the Sword Empress hesitated in thought, I wondered what she was building up to.
"...Then, once I return safely..."
"Whoa, hold up—stop."
I urgently cut her off before she could utter that death flag, finally seeing them off safely.
With the Sword Empress and Ye Socheon gone, the house felt even quieter.
They weren't the boisterous type, but dropping from four people to two naturally made it feel emptier.
As Dang Ayoung and I lounged at a casual distance, she spoke first.
"Being alone at home like this brings back old memories."
"It hasn't been that long."
"True, but so much has happened in between. And while you were away, I spent time with them."
Fair enough.
When it was just Dang Ayoung and me, our days boiled down to food, sleep, and sex. Time flew by.
My round trip to the Demonic Cult had taken a month or two, so the three women had managed fine on their own.
"Oh. We worked out your usage schedule in the meantime."
"...I'm not an object, you know."
"The Sword Empress was still too shy to push for it outright, but she didn't refuse either. She took one day a week, and the rest we split with Lady Thunderclap Sword."
"What about my say in this?!"
"You basically just lie there in bed no matter who's with you. Last week, you were in no state anyway."
"Cough!"
I spat imaginary blood and shuddered dramatically.
If words could deal critical hits, that would've been one.
I'd have to win in bed at least once to escape this treatment—but that was impossible even in my dreams.
"...At least let me see some sunlight."
"What, you think you're locked up without sunlight?"
"Right...?"
"No wife would ever imprison her husband, no matter how unreliable he is. Don't say such scary things."
"..."
I prayed no such wife existed in this world.
This feeling was dragging my Heavenly Demon PTSD right back up when it had just started to fade.
...A question occurred to me.
The other world had summoned me because men were extinct, planning to use me as a stud horse.
It was a pretty important issue. If there was even a 50% chance of boys, recovery was possible somehow. Genetic issues might arise, but sustaining the population could work one way or another. But if not...
"..."
I'd half-expected it, but the situation was worse than I'd thought.
At this point, "apocalypse" didn't even cover it.
I'd once half-jokingly asked if they planned to artificially extend my lifespan to keep using me as a stud. It didn't feel like a joke anymore.
In that state, would they let their one precious man die easily?
If it were me, I'd lie to hide how bad things were. Her spilling everything honestly showed how naive she was.
Or maybe her sanity was fraying a bit.
I had no way to learn the truth otherwise, yet she told me straight.
Ye Socheon's warning about not trusting her rang hollow.
Hearing the Saintess's words, I opened the shop window. About 2,000 points had accumulated.
The fortune I'd scrimped and saved for six years to buy this cloak—how had it built up so fast?
At this rate, focusing solely on Ye Socheon could earn points quickly.
With points plentiful for once, I browsed the shop window but found nothing compelling. I decided to save them for potential emergencies.
And a few days later...
Rumors spread across the Central Plains: the secret annex from the Divine Tournament that had rocked the world twenty years ago had been discovered.