The Return After a Week
"Ah, you've arrived."
"What? You again?"
"Pardon?"
As I stepped out of the door, I came face-to-face with Ha Jin-sung. It felt like this bastard was almost always the first person I encountered whenever I returned.
"Uh... Boss, that is..."
The guy’s face twisted as he looked at Helen, the bloodied woman I was carrying. The traces of brutal torture and the goat legs I’d forcibly attached to her must have looked grotesque. Of course, as a founding member who had seen plenty of bizarre things, he quickly smoothed his expression.
"Oh, right. Boss. While you were gone, a group of fifteen survivors showed up. All of them were Awakened."
"What? So? What happened? Did you kill them all?"
"Ah, well... when we tried to kill them, they surrendered immediately, so we locked them up for now. Of course, I have the slaves keeping a 24-hour watch on them. Hye-ji is also monitoring them closely with her Guild Manager skill."
"Is that so? Hmm. I’ll turn them into slaves later. Oh, and since I ran into you, take this."
I tossed Helen, whom I’d been holding, to Ha Jin-sung.
"Get her cleaned up... and, um... just lock her away for now."
"Ugh, the smell... Yes. Understood."
Ha Jin-sung called over another slave who had been sweeping the hallway and ordered them to wash the blood-dripping Helen. Seeing him issue orders to other slaves so naturally, it was clear that Jin-sung had fully embraced his role as a middle manager. I’d heard that the slaves were actually more afraid of Jin-sung than they were of me... which was quite a funny thought.
"Oppa?! Oppa is here!? Run!! Eunji-unni, run!!"
"What! Oppa!?"
Just then, a shout erupted from the floor below. Ha Jin-sung must have spread the word.
"Oppa!! Why are you only just now coming back!!!"
Eunji, who had gone berserk in her Oni state, and Hwayoung, who had shifted into her vampire mode, practically flew up the stairs and lunged at me. Both of them clung to me, acting so spoiled it made my head spin. They didn't care about the others behind them, rubbing their faces against me and inhaling my scent. From what I could see, both of them seemed a little bit in heat. Since Eunji and Hwayoung had my seal of lust engraved on them, they were always trying to absorb my essence periodically.
"Aigoo. You two. Yeah, yeah. Haha..."
Compared to tall women like Cheshire or Merhere, both of them had petite builds, so I just hugged them as they were and spun them around. As I was doing that, Harin and Heeseon-noona, who had heard the commotion, approached to welcome us back.
"You've returned, My Lord."
Harin stared intently only at me, her tail wagging so frantically it was distracting. No matter how much she tried to keep a poker face, she couldn't hide it when her tail was wagging like that. Judging by her reaction, she looked like she was going crazy with joy at seeing me after so long.
"Harin, come here too."
"Yes!"
Only after I gave her permission did Harin rush over to hug me. Eunji and Hwayoung, caught in the middle, screamed that they were being crushed, but Harin didn't care and squeezed me tight. It was as if she were a dog that only rushed over when the master gave the word. She hadn't been like this at first... but ever since she became a half-beast, she felt more and more like a real animal. Like a well-trained puppy, if you will.
"Hehe. Jun, welcome back. Aila-ssi, welcome as well. And we have new guests. Is that Cheshire?"
Since I had roughly briefed them on Cheshire’s information before heading into the Black Market last week, they all knew she was quite old. Of course, she was younger than Merhere, a former angel, and Aila, who must have lived for hundreds of years. Still, as far as I could tell, she was at least in her sixties. Effectively, she was old enough to be Heeseon-noona’s mother, who was 34. Of course, I didn't say that out loud, knowing that if I did, I might get hit on the head by Cheshire about sixty times.
"Yes! Nice to meet you. Um, what was your name..."
Cheshire had heard about the harem members from me, but since she had never seen them in person, she was a bit confused. With over a dozen harem members, it was understandable.
"I’m Heeseon. Kang Heeseon. Hehe... Welcome, Cheshire. Thank you all for your hard work coming here."
Heeseon-noona gave a kind smile and bowed her head to welcome Cheshire. Cheshire seemed pleased by Heeseon-noona’s warm reaction and beamed back at her. Soon, Aila said she needed to stop by the workshop and left, and Cheshire began being introduced to the rest of the group by Heeseon-noona.
"So you’re Cheshire-unni! Nice to meet you! I’m Hwayoung."
"I’m Eunji. Lee Eunji. Hehe. I’ve heard a lot about you. Oppa said he was always in your debt..."
Eunji and Hwayoung, who had been clinging to me, finally approached Cheshire and spoke to her energetically. Of course, I knew their smiles weren't entirely genuine. The way their eyes scanned the opponent. The strangely probing tone. Both of them were currently keeping Cheshire in check.
'Hmm...'
Eunji and Hwayoung were desperately hoping to take the spot on my right—that is, to become my primary wife and legal spouse. Since I hadn't explicitly declared who my primary wife was, the competition had only intensified.
'But if I only coddle one person, it’ll just lead to emotional warfare...'
Such is the dilemma of a man who has built a harem. Because I treat them all as individuals, I’m always careful about my relationships with them. As a result, it becomes painfully obvious. There is a subtle power struggle between them. They compete over who is best suited to be my primary wife, and latecomers like Juha, Eunha, and Nanase are causing chaos by trying to sneak in as concubines.
'The women I’ve touched so far total about thirteen... Among them, the ones seriously aiming for the primary wife position are...'
Eunji, Hwayoung, and Merhere. These three are visibly pushing hard for the top spot. Then comes Harin and Heeseon-noona, maybe? Aram is just completely addicted to my dick... and Areum likes me a lot, but she doesn't have that obsessive feeling like Eunji or Hwayoung. Yewon is just happy if I pay her any attention at all. Poor Yewon...
And Nanase, the Japanese girl, seems to just think of me as a boyfriend. Juha and Eunha feel like girls from a developing country who married a man from a developed nation based on conditions? All three of them still fall short of what I’d call "true love." That’s not to say they dislike me, though. It’s just that they don’t have that worship-like love (obsession) that Eunji or Hwayoung do.
'Cheshire and Aila are...'
Cheshire will probably try to compete with Eunji, Hwayoung, and Merhere. Aila will likely do the same. Both of them have stronger competitive streaks and desires for conquest than they let on. Especially Aila; she’s quite possessive, almost as much as she is obsessed with coins, so I have a feeling she’ll be obsessed with me too.
"Unni! Jun-oppa, long time no see!"
"Oh, hey! Areum!"
Just then, Areum came running from the opposite hallway, drenched in sweat. Seeing the sword in her hand, it looked like she had been sparring with Phares until just a moment ago. She must be working hard to advance from Sword Dancer to Sword Master. It’s commendable. But Areum couldn't approach easily because I already had three people clinging to me. So she went to her sister, Aram...
"Ah. Sweat. Ugh."
"No! Unni! We haven't seen each other in a while, what kind of reaction is that!"
Aram immediately made a disgusted face and took a step back from the sweat-drenched Areum.
"Unni! I was so worried you wouldn't come back!! You're mean!"
"I almost died. Several times."
"What? Really? Whoa. How?"
"Not telling."
"Argh! Unni!"
I really don't know how many times Aram almost died this time. Thanks to her, the conquest of the Black Market’s underground floors went smoothly, but seeing her look so exhausted made me feel incredibly sorry. She tried not to show how hard it was, but even that made my heart ache.
"Ah! Oppa!! Over here!"
As I was looking at Aram with pity, someone called me from beyond the window. Wait... this isn't the first floor...?
"Ugh! Shit!! What the!"
I was startled and looked at the object outside the window. It was Yewon, being held by a monster the size of a motorcycle. Come to think of it... that looks like a winged lizard? Could it be...
"Helgen?"
I was sure it hadn't been that big when we entered the Black Market. What on earth did it eat in a week to get that big?
'Is it the Unholy Queen’s ability...'
Yewon, who had been a Saint Maiden of the Pantheon, had changed her class to Unholy Queen, a class belonging to the Manma-jeon, after being ravished by me. Since then, all her skills had been related to monster taming and growth... and it seemed those skills had been applied directly to Helgen, who was a hatchling. It had truly undergone a storm of growth in just one week. I opened the window and took Yewon in.
"Our Helgen is huge, right?"
"Wow. It really is huge. What did you feed it?"
"Ah, Grandpa Hellers gave it some potion and... what was it... a Drake? What was that..."
"A sacrificial dragon?"
"Ah, right. I fed it that sacrificial dragon meat along with the potion, and it grew like this."
"Aha."
It wasn't because of the Unholy Queen’s skill, but the work of Hellers, who was like the Doraemon of our base. Come to think of it, he did say he was going to try making things when I gave him the Black Horned Dragon’s head last time. It seemed he had made a growth stimulant out of it.
"Kiaaaa!!!"
"Ugh. You scared me..."
"Helgen!! You have to be quiet!"
Yewon, who used to be shy, had gained a lot of courage while raising Helgen. Now she even knew how to shout. She’d raised the dragon like her own child, and it seemed her spirit had grown a bit stronger.
"Master."
And finally, Merhere appeared after hearing the commotion. She approached me, bringing Nanase, Juha, and the sister Eunha along. I had clearly entrusted her with teaching them Korean before we entered the Black Market so they could learn it faster.
"Jojun-oppa, welcome back. I’ve been waiting so long."
"Oh. Nanase..."
Nanase, being Japanese, didn't have the native pronunciation of a local Korean, but her pronunciation had become quite savory. As expected of a hard worker.
"Did you come back?"
"No, Juha. How are you still using that North Korean dialect?"
"Well, I was born and raised in the North. How could my accent change so easily? And how can you compare me to a Japanese girl who learned standard Korean from the start?"
"Haha... That’s true."
As she claimed, it might be harder for Juha, who had been speaking the North Korean dialect, to learn standard Korean than for Nanase, who had been injected with standard Korean from a blank slate. Eunha, who was listening from the side, nodded in agreement. But Eunha herself spoke Seoul-style Korean quite fluently. This just made me think... maybe Juha’s learning was just a bit slow.
'She’s a Gumiho, the foxiest of foxes, but her head is... hmm... well, this is cute too, so it’s fine.'
I kept my thoughts to myself. Anyway, while I was talking to Nanase and the North Korean sisters, Merhere approached Cheshire.
"Cheshire, it’s been a while."
"Yeah. Nice to see you. It’s the first time since then, right?"
"That’s right... I wanted to thank you directly for covering our backs back then. Thank you."
"Hehe. It was nothing."
When I purchased Merhere, Cheshire had stayed behind alone during the underground guard’s raid to buy us time to escape. Merhere had always remembered that, and today, she finally gave her proper thanks. Merhere smiled brightly and held out her hand to Cheshire, and Cheshire nodded and took it.
We spent some time introducing ourselves and catching up. After that, I called over Gen, who was a Priest class, and the rest of the Japanese group, and handed them the Cracked Ankh with an order. To stain the Cracked Ankh as black as possible. So that we could enter the Abyss before the bastards from the Pantheon did.