A Four-Way Confrontation
I slipped Levatein into my inventory and glanced back at the others.
"Pretty packed day, huh?"
"It really was~ I almost feel bad. All we did was take."
The President answered as she trudged down the mountain, those enormous breasts of hers swaying in time with every step.
No, President. If anyone walked away with more than they deserved, it was me.
In the end, we'd used Levatein's Regeneration to restore the hidden dungeon's boss and killed it a second time — double the experience, double the loot. The ability was so broken I almost felt guilty using it. When Angel had walked me through how Regeneration worked, someone with the exact same voice had been frantically trying to stop her from behind, yanking her around by the hair. So this probably wasn't a weapon that was supposed to be allowed.
Well. Whatever. If they slap a restriction on it, I'll raise hell. If that doesn't work, I'll just live with it.
"Hey!"
Violet called out from behind, hurrying down the slope after me.
"What's up, Secretary?"
"Eeek!"
She bristled at the title, clamped her mouth shut, then tried again.
"Is it really okay to just hand something like this out for free?"
"What, you wanna give it back?"
I grinned slyly and glanced over my shoulder. Violet hurriedly hid the earring behind her back.
"Th-that's not what I meant..."
She trailed off with an awkward little laugh. There was a reason a girl as proud as Violet would fold this easily. The Arachne ornament I'd given her raised mana by eight as a passive effect just by wearing it — the kind of item ability users would kill for.
"Should I pay you for it, then? Say, five hundred million?"
Whoa. Her dad really is a military-industrial CEO. She just casually throws around numbers like that.
"I'm good~"
I don't need money. While I'm in this world, Angel covers the basics, Alice handles the meals, and anything else I can just ask the President for.
Wait. Doesn't that make me some kind of kept man?
"You're really just giving this to me? No strings attached?"
"That's what I said. So just do a good job as secretary from now on."
The only thing I actually wanted from Violet was sex. I'd take her first time eventually — but if we were going to do it anyway, sooner was better, right?
Before I knew it, we'd come down the mountain and arrived at the President's limousine.
"Alright, everyone. Good work in the dungeon today. Let's head back."
I grinned and declared the party a roaring success. Hidden dungeon: cleared. And unexpectedly, cleared twice over.
Violet stared blankly, half-convinced she was dreaming, and let her gaze go slack. But the hard texture of the earring against her fingertips remained.
"What even is this...?"
She murmured it to herself after climbing out of the President's car and arriving at her own front door. The day's events had unfolded over just a few hours, and they felt so much like a dream that she squeezed the earring again, just to be sure.
It wasn't a dream. Something that would get you called insane if you told anyone about it had actually happened. Her mana stat had jumped by twenty in a single day. On top of that, she'd obtained a top-tier item that would sell out instantly if it ever hit the market. And she'd paid nothing for any of it.
She'd gone looking for Jeong Jojun to understand him. She'd come back with even bigger questions.
"Why...?"
She asked herself again. She was too sharp not to recognize that the emotion he'd shown her today was genuine, uncalculated goodwill. Everything in this world was supposed to be measured — tallied up in terms of interest and relationships. That was how the world was built.
But that man was different.
"Don't tell me..."
From that pure goodwill that shattered every framework of give-and-take in her mind, Violet arrived at a single conclusion.
"Does he... like me?"
A feeling offered for the other person's sake, with nothing asked in return. Love.
Violet fidgeted with the earring in her palm. After staring at it for a moment, she quietly fastened it to her ear, then pulled out her phone and used the camera to look at herself.
"Well... it does look pretty good on me."
Had he given it to her because he thought it would suit her?
"Hmph!"
She snorted softly and trudged into her mansion. That rude man. He'd been so awful to her at first — did he think a gift earring would change how she felt?
But still... showing up at school tomorrow wearing it wouldn't be so bad. She was willing to pay that much, at least, as compensation.
The gentle rhythm of the ride broke, and my consciousness snapped awake.
"Nnh?"
I blinked against the sudden jolt.
"We're here~"
The President's sweet voice slipped softly into my still-drowsy ears. Ah. I must have dozed off on the way back from the dungeon. That jolt just now was the car stopping. The sky that had been softly glowing when we left was now pitch black, scattered with tiny shards of starlight.
"You worked hard today, Savior."
Bianca looked back at me from the front seat, her body resting against the upholstery. In the car's cozy darkness, her blue eyes glittered like stars.
"Ah."
For a moment I just stared at her, dazed by how beautiful she looked. That otherworldly face. That impossibly kind heart, devoted to the world — and she was looking at me with such affection. It was beautiful enough to steal the breath from my lungs.
Realizing I was staring, Bianca tilted her head and beamed. I smiled back and answered.
"Hard work? Please. I'm the one who should be thanking you."
With a woman that beautiful sitting right there, openly showing me affection — what was there to find hard?
"Don't be like that, Jojun. You really did work hard today."
A small hand patted my shoulder from the seat beside me, as if to say I'd earned the rest. Alice's crimson eyes burned bright in the dark, holding nothing but me.
That's enough. Honestly, today's rewards were already more than I deserved.
"Nngh!"
I stretched out my stiff body and shook off the last of the drowsiness.
"Get home safe~"
The President raised a hand and gave a little wave goodbye. A hint of reluctance lingered in her smiling eyes.
Man, I wish the President and Vice President just lived downstairs. I want to see them all the time.
"Oh! Unni! Why don't you just come eat at our place? It's dinnertime anyway."
"Oh my, would that be all right?"
Bianca lit up, and Alice cheerfully assured her there were plenty of ingredients, so it was no problem at all.
"Thank you."
Rebecca bowed her head toward Alice.
"No! No! You don't have to treat me like that! I'm your underclassman — just call me Alice!"
"As I said before, this formality is a habit. It is difficult to correct."
"Ah... is that so? Then what should I do?"
Just listening to them was enough to warm the heart. Ahh. So this is what a harem feels like.
After that pleasant exchange, we climbed out of the President's car and headed for Alice's place. She hopped out of the elevator and was about to unlock her front door when she suddenly froze.
Ah. Right.
I knew exactly why she'd stopped. The walls of that room were plastered with photos she'd taken of me. She didn't want anyone seeing that.
"Um... c-could you wait just a second while I tidy up the room?"
Alice stammered, her face going stiff.
"It's fine~ When you live alone, rooms get a little messy. That's just how it is~"
The President answered gently, wearing a benevolent smile.
"Ah... n-no... that's not it..."
Alice broke out in a cold sweat, her hand fidgeting on the doorknob.
"What's the big deal, Alice? The President and Vice President won't care. Trust me."
They really wouldn't. If I had to guess, the President would go, Oh my? What lovely photos~ and the Vice President would just go Mm with no reaction at all.
"Still, it's a little..."
I slipped past Alice's hesitant arms, punched in the door code, and shoved the door open.
"Jojun!"
"It's not my house, but please, come in."
Alice yelped and stamped her feet. Meanwhile, the President and Vice President glided through the doorway as if it were the most natural thing in the world, murmuring a polite "Pardon the intrusion~" as they stepped inside.
"Wait, unni, that's—"
Alice tried to grab Bianca as she headed into the room, rambling excuses.
"Oh my! What lovely photos~"
Exactly as I'd predicted, the President sparkled as she started admiring the pictures covering the walls.
"These are photographs of the Savior."
The Vice President, for some reason, seemed to be matching the President's energy, staring intently at the photos on the wall.
"See? I told you they wouldn't care."
"Yeah..."
Alice gave an embarrassed little shake of her twintails. The President and Vice President were polar opposites in personality, but neither of them had a mean bone — their balance was so well-tuned I couldn't imagine either of them tearing someone else down.
"Oh my! Is this a photo of the Savior as a child?!"
"Ah, unni. That's from when Jojun was six..."
Alice wasn't even embarrassed anymore. She was proudly walking them through her collection, explaining each photo one by one.
"Mm."
The Vice President quietly joined the lineup, listening to the explanations with surprisingly passionate eyes.
I watched the girls chatter away and quietly slipped into the kitchen, tying on an apron. They'd worked hard today. They deserved to rest. I'd cook. Before I came to this world, I'd been living on my own for six years. I'd reached the point where I could handle just about any dish.
I watched them squeal and gossip with a warm feeling in my chest, and silently got to work. Tonight's menu: kimchi fried rice — the eternal companion of every guy living alone, and the dish I was most confident in.
I was about to grab the pan when my eyes met Alice's. I gave the pan a little shake, signaling that dinner was on me tonight. Her slightly upturned eyes curved into a pretty smile, aimed right at me.
Were the heroines smiling at me more beautifully today because I was more aware of them — or because they'd actually gotten prettier?
"I'll make it delicious. Don't worry."
I declared it with full confidence, poured olive oil into the pan, and started on my signature kimchi fried rice. They were going to eat this and die of how good it was.
One hour later, Alice, the President, the Vice President, and I sat around the table looking thoroughly satisfied.
"This is really delicious~"
"It was excellent."
The President and Vice President heaped on the praise. Of course it was. As if my cooking could ever be bad.
"By the way, unnis."
I was gazing proudly at the spotless empty plates when Alice turned to the President and Vice President.
"Yes~?"
"Yes."
They answered at the same time. Alice, as if it were the most casual thing in the world, dropped a bombshell.
"How far have you gone with Jojun?"
I spat out the water I'd been drinking as a palate cleanser.
"A woman's intuition tells me you've already gone pretty far."
Alice continued the conversation like she was discussing the weather.
"Oh my!"
The President covered her mouth with her hand, as if wondering how Alice could possibly know.
"Yes. That's correct."
The Vice President stated the truth as calmly as a weather report.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait. This is the direction we're going?
"The President and I have each received the Savior's sexual desire once — orally, and with our breasts."
Rebecca, that phrasing is a little weird. You make it sound like I forced you.
"Is that so? I had sex with Jojun."
"Oh my!"
The President covered her mouth again.
What is happening right now? Why is this happening?
My head started spinning as the conversation suddenly turned into a full-blown "how far have you gone?" symposium.
Alice, what the hell do you want?