Chapter 178
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Degenerate Loyalty
“... Mr. Lee Yun-seong, are you okay?”
Unable to focus on my work, Wi Hoyeon spoke up.
“... I'm fine.”
It was a lie. Ever since that incident with Seo Yu-ju, I'd been in this state nonstop.
“.....”
Wi Hoyeon rose from her seat and approached me cautiously.
She bent down to meet my eyes.
After staring into mine for a moment, she spoke.
“You slept with the Master, didn't you.”
“... How did you know?”
I widened my eyes in surprise, and she gave a slight smile as she replied.
“I can just tell.”
“What...”
“It's true. I could tell right away from your expression, Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”
'What the hell does that mean.'
“... Is that even possible?”
“Well... you had such a restless look on your face. You're making the same expression right now.”
“.....”
It felt like she was peeling back every layer of my inner thoughts.
“... Mr. Lee Yun-seong, are you worried about something?”
“.....”
From Wi Hoyeon's perspective, she had every right to be angry or express dissatisfaction about me sleeping with Seo Yu-ju.
Yet the only emotion visible on her face was concern for me.
“... Doesn't it bother you at all, Miss Hoyeon?”
If I were in her shoes, I would've been pissed.
Wi Hoyeon let out a rare sigh as she addressed me.
“If you're worrying about me, then it's unnecessary.”
“.....”
“I already told you that you don't need to feel responsible for me. There's no need to stress over it because of me.”
'No... that's part of it, but my headache's from a different problem.'
The real reason my head hurt was because I hadn't told Seo Yu-ju the full truth.
'It's truly impossible to reveal everything now.'
The train had already left the station. There were no more chances.
If I wanted to confess the entire truth—not just part of it—to Seo Yu-ju, I should've done it yesterday.
Unaware of that, Wi Hoyeon seemed to think I was acting this way out of responsibility toward her.
'It's not like I haven't thought about Wi Hoyeon at all, but...'
“... Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”
“Yes?”
“I wasn't taken by force. I offered myself to you because I wanted to.”
“......”
“If I'd planned to demand responsibility or force anything from you, I never would've gone to your room that night in the first place.”
'That's not what this is about.'
It might sound like trash talk, but I wasn't the kind of overly responsible guy she imagined.
“Haa... I just can't figure out why you're so different in bed compared to your usual self. Where's the Mr. Lee Yun-seong who said such rough things to me that night?”
'No, that's just... bedroom play, you know?'
No matter how twisted I was, I didn't talk or act like that in everyday life.
“... That's not what you think it is, Miss Hoyeon.”
“What do you mean it's not? You're clearly agonizing over it alone.”
'... Feels like that's something I should be saying to you.'
It was absurd hearing that from Wi Hoyeon, since she was the one who'd been agonizing alone.
“... Or did you force yourself on the Clan Master?”
“Am I crazy? Unless I was dead set on getting stabbed to death by Yu-ju's spear...”
“Then put those needless worries aside. You haven't done anything wrong, Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”
'Not wrong? What do you mean?'
Suddenly, it hit me: the faith shining in Wi Hoyeon's eyes toward me bordered on fanaticism.
It was the kind of gaze that said if I told her to die, she'd do it for real.
Honestly, since I hadn't even made a move on her specifically, I couldn't help but recall what Rusca had told me.
'... In the first regression, Wi Hoyeon had feelings for me, right?'
I wondered if some subtle connection from the first timeline had carried over into this second one.
Wi Hoyeon suddenly pulled my face into her chest.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“... I thought this might ease your worries...”
“......”
“Or... would you call me by my name casually right here?”
Me using casual speech with Wi Hoyeon was a kind of signal.
In other words, she was seducing me right now.
“... Are you seducing me?”
Meeting my gaze, she smiled seductively and turned the question back on me.
“... Who knows? What do you think?”
'Hah...'
Wi Hoyeon always caught me off guard with stuff like this.
It was so different from when she was first assigned as my bodyguard.
For a moment, her response heated my head, but I forced it down.
'Damn, my self-control's been shot lately.'
I'd always prided myself on my self-restraint.
But in the last few months, it felt like it'd crumbled.
And the root cause was the woman standing right in front of me.
Wi Hoyeon's eyes were egging me on.
“... Miss Hoyeon.”
Disappointment flickered across her face the instant I didn't switch to casual speech.
“... Yes.”
“Keep that up, and you'll regret it. Worse than last time.”
“Ah...”
Wi Hoyeon reacted blankly to my words. She'd picked up on it from my eyes, too.
The fact that I was suppressing myself as hard as I could.
As proof, her face flushed, and her breathing grew ragged.
“If you keep provoking me... it'll be trouble. If word gets out what kind of woman Miss Hoyeon really is here, it'll be a huge problem. Right?”
If things went south now, it'd spell disaster for both me and her.
“I-I'm... s-sorry. I-I'll... go ahead inside for a bit. Sorry, Mr. Lee Yun-seong.”
Without waiting for my reply, Wi Hoyeon fled the office.
'Shit...'
I had a gut feeling about what she'd do after leaving like that.
After calming my boiling urges for a bit, my portable crystal orb began to vibrate.
'What? Riki?'
The caller was Riki.
Click-
“What's up?”
- ......
“Riki?”
- ... Yun-seong.
Hearing her voice, I instantly knew something was wrong.
“... Something happen?”
- ... You're sharp as ever.
I waited silently for her to continue.
- I just... wanted to vent a bit, so I called.
“Vent?”
- Well... I'm pissed, annoyed, that sort of mood. Haven't felt like this in ages.
“What the hell happened?”
'Her voice is quiet, but it feels ominous.'
It meant she was holding back her anger as much as possible.
For a second, I worried if I'd done something wrong to her, but no matter how I racked my brain, nothing came up.
- First off, congrats, Yun-seong. Eternity's reputation has shot up, right? I heard the Eternity Master I saw last time snagged a ranker spot?
“Ah... Yeah, pretty much.”
Riki was beating around the bush instead of getting to the point, which was unlike her.
- Now no one can ignore you. Eternity Clan's position is totally different from before. What'd they call it? An elite few clan or something.
Well, she wasn't wrong. Eternity had firmly established itself as one of the top clans.
Not quite on the level of the three great clans led by Gu Yeon-jeong, but right below them.
It wasn't just Seo Yu-ju, Lee Jae-hyo, Sharis, or Wi Hoyeon.
The other members who'd shown talent since the Tutorial were starting to gain fame too.
Kang I-seo was making a name for herself as an archer with unerring accuracy.
Her shot to the White Gluttony's vitals, among other feats.
It meant her talent as an archer was finally blooming.
Song Ha-eun was gaining recognition as a spirit summoner, albeit less than Kang I-seo, and Yu-hyeon went without saying.
Countless people had survived large-scale battles thanks to him.
Uncle Ho-won was also building a reputation as a reliable tank.
But that wasn't the issue right now.
“... Riki, you don't have to dodge it. Something's up, right?”
- Haa... Yun-seong, remember?
“Remember what?”
- Jo Yeon-ju, the one we saw at the banquet hall.
“Ah...”
Her words brought it back. The woman who'd seemed pretty close to Riki.
'Formation Sorceress Jo Yeon-ju.'
“Of course I remember.”
'She's so damn weird, impossible to forget.'
I still remembered her asking if I wanted to knock Riki down.
Her next words shocked me.
- Jo Yeon-ju's dead.
“... What?”
- Well, more precisely, she was murdered by someone.
“Murdered?”
- Yeah. Kick... Don't know which bastards, but from the traces, it was an ambush—two of them attacked her.
“... Even an ambush, she's a ranker, isn't she? They took out a ranker with just two people?”
The ranker title wasn't something to take lightly. It was bestowed on only ten out of countless players.
Killing Jo Yeon-ju with two meant the killers were rankers themselves or had equivalent power.
- The culprits must be powerhouses on that level. Actually, no guesswork—I'm sure. At least one of them, I know who.
“......”
- Ghost Spear, Baek Si-hoon. That fucker's the killer.
I'd heard of him before.
'The only ranker who's a defector, right?'
“... Riki, you okay?”
Her calling me to express her emotions like this was extremely rare.
'No, it's basically the first time.'
- Who knows. Honestly, people dying on this continent is commonplace. Even if it's someone close.
“......”
- Should've talked to that bitch more, in hindsight. Haa... Still, I thought of her as a friend, so it doesn't feel great that she went like this.
“... My condolences.”
That was all I could say to her.
Truth be told, I wasn't close to Jo Yeon-ju, so it didn't stir any emotions in me.
I was just puzzled.
Two people ambushing Jo Yeon-ju didn't sound like a random street fight.
It meant premeditated murder.
The moment Wi Hoyeon stepped out of the office, self-loathing washed over her.
'... Mr. Lee Yun-seong, I'm sorry. Truth is, a pathetic woman like me has no right to say anything to you.'
She found herself repulsive. Just as he'd said in bed, she was a woman unworthy of being hailed as the Sword Empress.
She was merely someone who couldn't properly convey her feelings—or rather, who was deceiving herself about them.
'... It was my choice.'
Deep down, she had wanted it too.
Proof of that certainty was the change in her trait.
📜 Degenerate Loyalty (Hero Grade)
If you have pledged loyalty to a target, all stats increase by 2 within a 50-meter radius of that person. Recently, the target of your loyalty has changed to another target. You will crave affection from the target of your loyalty.
Her original trait had been called Noble Loyalty.
But along with the name change, a new description had been added.
'... You will crave affection from the target of your loyalty.'
How utterly ridiculous. A mere tool craving affection from its master.
It was greed beyond her station.
“Again...”
Lately, just thinking of him made her body heat up uncontrollably.
Her body reacted automatically, yearning for that same pleasure from before.
“No...”
Her role was to satisfy his desires. She couldn't impose her own on him.
'Not here.'
At the very least, she needed to head to her room. If he heard...
“Ah...”
'If he heard... what would he do to me?'
Could she feel that same bliss from back then?
If so, she could endure any amount of shame.
'I wonder what it was like for the two of them.'
Just imagining the night Lee Yun-seong and the Master had spent together made her body shudder.
'Did he treat her the same way he treated me?'
That rough abuse, the violent tone imprinting exactly what she was.
And the possessive fire burning in his eyes.
'Stop.'
Wi Hoyeon bit her lip until it bled.
Her mind cleared a little.
A wry chuckle escaped her.
She wasn't some lofty woman like the Sword Empress the world called her.
'... To my room. I need to go to my room.'
There was only one way to relieve this heat, however meagerly.
... She probably wouldn't be eating dinner tonight.