Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Are You Kidding Me Right Now?
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At the very moment Kim Geon-ho was eagerly receiving a handjob from Airi...
The media was pumping out articles left and right about Kim Geon-ho, who had cleared a secondary mutation dungeon all by himself.
Mountain Lord's Heir Kim Geon-ho! Displays Heroic Valor!
Near-Catastrophe in Secondary Mutation Dungeon Averted! Kim Geon-ho: "No One's to Blame."
Most of the coverage praised Kim Geon-ho's magnanimity and prowess, with the Mountain Lords looming sharply in the background, claws at the ready.
1. Apply pressure to every article slandering the Academy or Kim Geon-ho.
2. Manipulate the media to highlight only the positive angles.
The teams under the Mountain Lords executed these orders with maximum speed and perfection.
"Isn't it ridiculous how people's opinions flip-flop based on a few lines in an article?"
"Y-Yes? Quite right, milady."
Heila, monitoring the media in real time, laughed as if it were all beneath her.
Her glamorous golden blonde hair paired perfectly with her luxurious attire. Add in that haughty demeanor, and she looked every inch the noblewoman.
"Just a few days ago, they were calling the Mountain Lord's wastrel son a parachutist for getting into Hero Academy, and now the narrative's completely flipped."
"Y-Yes... You're right..."
"So, how long are you planning to keep giving me these half-hearted replies while guarding this door?"
Heila was standing right in front of Kim Geon-ho's hospital room door.
She desperately wanted to shove the guard aside by force, but she held back—she didn't want to come off as barbaric at their first meeting.
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Of course I do... You're Lady Heila, the fiancée-to-be."
"You know that, and you're still blocking the door like this? Surely you're not planning to blindly follow some 'no visitors' order without any flexibility?"
'No, I don't want to guard it that strictly either!'
Hobong, Kim Geon-ho's manager, road manager, and all-around cleanup guy, was on the verge of a breakdown.
As Heila said, he knew there were a few exceptions to that "no visitors" rule who didn't count as "anyone."
But the current situation made it utterly impossible to let her in.
'Why does the Young Master have to be such a womanizer even now!'
In this romantic scenario where his fiancée-to-be had come to nurse him, what if she walked in and saw her future husband with another woman in the room?
A massive fight would erupt on the spot, engagement be damned. And Heila was more than capable of starting one.
She valued her pride and honor above all—she wouldn't let something like this slide lightly.
But stepping aside and opening the door, knowing that? That would be pure insanity.
'He's not even answering calls...'
He'd definitely sensed him waking up, but even urgent messages went unread.
"It's the superior's responsibility to train their underlings properly... Surely there's no woman in there, right?"
Zing.
Heila had been willing to wait, thinking he had some excuse, but her woman's intuition kicked in sharp as a blade.
If he was just guarding the door, fine—but why was the guard sweating bullets and dodging questions?
That realization hit her, and Hobong's face stiffened unmistakably, confirming her suspicions.
'Eek!'
He might have endured physical torture.
Trained his whole life to thrive in the shadows, Hobong wilted under the strange aura radiating from this sunlit noblewoman.
Heila wouldn't miss that weakness—she furrowed her brow.
"Interesting. Looks like those old articles about him being a total wastrel weren't entirely off the mark."
Right then, Heila seriously pondered whether Kim Geon-ho was on her level or not.
Normally, she'd refuse the marriage without a word, but damn his "heroic deeds" for holding her back.
'I can fix his womanizing habit if I'm by his side... And having a rising hero around will naturally boost my honor.'
Convinced she could reform him with dedicated supervision, Heila decided to push through.
With everything out in the open, wasting time bantering with the guard was pointless.
Whoosh!
"Wha—wait—!"
Creak!
Hobong was shoved aside without resistance at her gesture. He knew better than to arm-wrestle the Young Master's future fiancée.
Heila brushed him off and flung the door open, confirming the rumors in vivid detail.
"Hah... heh heh heh..."
What's so great about exposing himself and sticking to another woman? Her future husband was grinning ear to ear.
So Heila asked.
"Looks like you're having a blast, huh?"
Truly having the time of his life.
"My future husband's cheating right in front of me? Not a fan."
Even assuming cheating had levels, this was beyond the pale.
"...I'm personally verifying those rumors about his womanizing now."
No way she'd turn a blind eye.
Heila irritably swept her hair back and ground her teeth.
'Engagement's off. No question.'
There was zero benefit to tying herself to a creep like that.
With that judgment, she turned to leave.
"Whoa, this is fucked."
"Mind giving my balls a quick massage if it's not too much trouble?"
If only she hadn't heard that from her so-called fiancé-to-be.
"Die, you bastard."
Boom!
As Heila clenched her fist in a mock threat, the air in the room compressed momentarily—then the hospital room exploded.
"I was the idiot for believing those tales of heroic valor."
With that, she turned to leave for real.
She concluded no one like that could solo a secondary mutation dungeon.
But...
"Nah, but that part's actually true..."
Kim Geon-ho's response stopped her in her tracks again.
'He took that hit and he's fine?'
The girl beside him hadn't held back much, but that should've been devastating—no one walks away unscathed.
Yet Kim Geon-ho looked not just fine, but full of energy.
Hell, in that patient gown, he looked like he was in peak condition.
"Getting a handjob and meeting my fiancée in the same spectacular moment... Not bad at all."
"Wh-what did you say?"
"That said, swinging violence out of nowhere? That's not cool."
She needed a scolding, right?
Saying that, Kim Geon-ho slowly walked toward her.
"Kyaaaaah!"
Heila's gaze naturally drifted downward, and she screamed.
"P-put on some pants! Put on pants before you come closer!"
"What's the big deal? You'll see it eventually once we're married."
"We're not engaged yet!"
"Semantics."
He's coming. Getting closer.
Facing this unfamiliar man's... thing, Heila had no clue how to react.
Plus, she'd come for a quick visit without even basic armament, making it worse.
'No sword? Anything sharp around...'
She scanned for improvised blades, but a hospital room wouldn't have any.
Slap, slap.
The soft taps of its tip against his thigh should've been faint.
But to Heila's ears, they rang out deafeningly.
"If you're gonna hurt someone, be prepared to get hurt the same way. Never heard that one?"
"..."
That's the same as this? Are you kidding right now? You cheated right in front of your potential fiancée and then sexually harassed her.
And you think saying that crap now makes sense?
She wanted to snap back, but Heila clamped her mouth shut, unable to form a proper retort.
No idea what to do if it got any closer—she decided to bolt.
"N-next time we meet... I'll make you pay for this humiliation."
Kim Geon-ho chuckled softly at Heila, who spat a third-rate villain line with teary eyes.
"Sure, I'll let it slide this time. Come prepared next round."
"...You bastard!"
With that, she whirled around and fled the room.
'I'll get revenge no matter what! Break the engagement later—first, get close and make him pay!'
As she escaped, revenge burning in her mind, Heila made a call.
"Process my transfer to Hero Academy—right now!"
To get revenge, she needed to stick close.
And maybe that too...
'No, no! Why am I thinking about that disgusting thing...'
Heila shoved the image of that thick, long something deep into her memory.
Their first meeting as fiancés had been an absolute disaster.
After Heila's frantic departure, in the mostly trashed hospital room.
Hobong had clocked my disheveled state and stepped out to grab cleanup supplies.
Airi, who'd been silent until now, slowly approached and spoke.
"...You had a fiancée?"
"Was gonna, but judging by her reaction... yeah, I guess I do?"
"And you still made me do this? Kept saying you wanted to keep going with me?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course."
Slap!
A palm whipped across my cheek, sharp as lightning.
"Womanizer! How could you... with a fiancée...!"
"But I'm confident I can love you all."
Slap!
"Only do things you're confident you can take responsibility for."
Slap!
"Sorry, Airi, but while you're slapping me, mind finishing the handjob?"
Slap!
"Figure it out yourself, idiot!"
Bang!
With that, Airi stormed out of the room.
Idiot? Calling me an idiot!
'How the fuck can she say something so damn sexy and cute?'
My dick, which had gone soft from the slaps, shot right back up at full mast.
Looks like I'd have to handle this solo today.
If you've got nothing better to do, quit screwing around and head straight to the Mental Realm.
As I thought that, the Invitation Ferocious Tiger chimed in right on cue, like it'd been waiting.
Time to go get beat up.