It Was Really Good, Kang Seo-ja..♥

The next day, after she'd moaned that it was really good, Kang Seo-ja..♥ I stepped out of the second-floor inn room together with Helga. We headed down to the first floor for lunch.

With her face flushed red, Helga brought over all kinds of dishes and set them down in front of me.

“I thought I was gonna die last night. So the rumors about black hair being dangerous are true after all~”

Helga wrapped her thick, muscular arm around mine and spoke in a cutesy, flirtatious voice.

“What the hell happened… Helga.”

“That cranky Helga completely fell for a black-haired guy…”

Helga’s party members stared in open disbelief. I felt the same way. I’d only done what I’d seen in porn, yet this was the result.

“Hehehe… You lot don’t need to know.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“I’m a little curious, though…”

The female mage in the robe frowned and spooned up some stew. The female hunter juggling two knives stared at me with a completely blank expression.

In the next instant the expressionless hunter vanished and reappeared right beside me.

“You’re that good?”

“Hey, Ciel. I found Kang Seo-ja first. Back off!”

The moment her comrade stuck close to my side, Helga exploded. But the female hunter Ciel ignored her anger completely and kept asking questions. She was probably an S-rank hunter with strength on par with Helga. If so, that female mage had to be just as strong.

Still, was spending one night with Helga really such a huge deal?

“This isn’t the time to be fussing over the black-haired guy. A monster wave just started in the plains, remember? Focus, please.”

“I know that.”

“Yeah.”

The female mage sighed and grabbed both women by the arms.

“What a shame, Kang Seo-ja. I wanted to do it with you again today… but we have to leave the village, so it’ll be hard to meet up.”

“I see.”

“U-um… If you’re interested, maybe you could join our party as a porter…”

Helga spoke in a rush. The female mage who seemed to be the leader cut her off immediately.

“Men are not allowed. Especially not black-haired ones.”

“I was just asking! Morgana! You chopped me down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like you were swinging an axe!”

Helga had wanted me, but the leader shut it down at once. The reason was simple. This was a reverse gender world where women held absolute superiority over men. Naturally, the vast majority of adventurers were female. Men were weak and usually stuck doing farm work or staying inside the village. On top of that, black-haired people were treated as cursed, and rumors said you should never get close to them. It felt like everyone saw me as a crow bringing bad luck.

Anyone other than an S-rank adventurer like Massacre Helga would have been wary of the black-hair curse. But somehow I had survived Massacre Helga. Not only survived—I had satisfied her so thoroughly that she looked like she wanted to sleep with me again.

“I’ll pay for all the food, so… mwah.”

Helga kissed my cheek and stood up.

“Next time we meet, let’s sleep together again.”

“Sure… Helga.”

Helga rose with her comrades and left to tackle the monster wave rising in the plains. Suddenly I was alone again.

While I filled my stomach with the food Helga had bought me, I thought back on how I had ended up in this other world.

“That woman I met at the bar…”

It was my first time ever stepping into a place called a club. I hadn’t wanted to go; my friend had nagged me half to death until I tagged along. The woman I met there said I was her type and asked me to have a drink with her alone, so I ditched my friend and followed her outside. I drank what she gave me, lost consciousness completely, and when I opened my eyes I was in this other world.

What the hell did she make me drink?

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t figure it out. I swore I would never follow a random woman again… or so I told myself, yet Helga had grabbed me and forced me into my first experience. Ahem. From now on I’d decide case by case.

“It was pretty good, though…”

“Was spending the night with Helga that good?”

“Hm?”

A new face had appeared where Helga’s party had been sitting. A petite girl? Well, she only came up to my chest, but she sat down beside me with a bright smile.

“Is it true you survived Helga?”

Was surviving Helga really that impressive? Most people kept their distance from black-haired men and treated them like trash… yet here she was, approaching me and asking questions. The Helga effect was no joke.

“If I survived, then I survived… But who are you?”

“Ah, my bad. I’m Ivy. And you?”

“I’m Kang Seo-ja.”

“Kang Seo-ja. Hmm, hmm. The thing is, I need a person.”

As expected, she hadn’t approached without a reason. She had expectations of me.

“What kind of work requires me specifically?”

“I’m the adventurer guild master, you know? I hand out jobs to adventurers like Helga.”

I had a pretty good idea what this was. In novels and webtoons it was the place where adventurers received quests, carried them out, and earned rewards. The owner of that place was this short girl.

I decided to hear her out. Like it or not, I had been dropped into this other world. Helga was gone now, and I had to figure out my own meals and lodging. For that, I needed money.

“There are plenty of requests you’d enjoy. Want to try being an adventurer?”

“If it’s work I’d enjoy…”

“I mean things like the bedtime fun you had with Helga.”

I wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say I’m not a prostitute, but this seemed like an opportunity that wouldn’t come twice. I didn’t want to ruin it by sounding negative. Besides, forming relationships was something I enjoyed too.

“I’ll give it a try. I’m interested.”

“See? You won’t be disappointed. There are tons of women in heat these days.”

“Pardon?”

I followed guild master Ivy to the adventurer guild. The interior was surprisingly large. It was packed with adventurers, most of them carrying one weapon or another. Some stood pondering in front of the request board while others exchanged gold coins for completed quests at the reception counter. The atmosphere was exactly what I had expected.

What I hadn’t expected was—

“Black hair…”

“And it’s a man.”

“Tsk… Unlucky.”

Almost every adventurer inside was female. Just looking at the numbers here made it clear that women—stronger than men—survived far more often. The few surviving male adventurers were mostly mages or priests waiting safely in the rear. Even the receptionist handling adventurers was male.

“Ahem, ahem… Kang Seo-ja, you’re incredible! You sent off Massacre Helga just like that! Amazing!”

Ivy, who had invited me to become an adventurer, suddenly made a big scene and shouted.

“What? Helga?”

“You faced that crazy bitch at night?”

“That black-haired guy looks perfectly fine, though?”

“…Dangerous.”

“He might be a monster.”

I could feel the hostile gazes of the adventurers shift slightly. Ivy had clearly introduced me with exaggerated praise on purpose. She seemed to be trying to soften their prejudice against black hair. I wasn’t sure how much it would help, but I definitely felt her consideration.

“All right, all right! Let’s register you as an adventurer first!”

“Sounds good.”

I followed guild master Ivy into a side room. She pulled out a green wooden plaque and handed it to me.

“It’s an F-Rank adventurer tag. Complete a few requests and you’ll shoot up to D-Rank in no time.”

“What benefits come with a higher rank?”

“Lots. You can be hired for better pay, and once you reach Helga’s level no one will dare look down on you. Black hair? Man? With an S-Rank tag, they wouldn’t be able to treat you carelessly.”

Guild master Ivy understood my situation perfectly—the powerless man facing discrimination. She had a real talent for plucking out only the sweetest parts to say. She really was like a master instructor. No wonder she ran the guild.

“Adventurer… I like it.”

“Right? Now then~”

Ivy held out her hand.

“What?”

“You have to pay the guild registration fee. The wooden tag costs money too.”

“…”

She had only said pleasant things until now, but the guild master was a merchant through and through.

“I don’t have any money right now… I’ll pay after I take a request and complete it.”

“What… not even a single coin?”

“None.”

“Hmm… Then I’ll hold onto your belt until you finish a request.”

Only now did I realize she wasn’t just interested in the Helga story—she had her eye on my belt too.

“Fine.”

My pants weren’t going to fall down anyway. The belt had just been decorative when I went to the club. I left the belt as collateral, took the wooden tag, and left the room.

As soon as I stepped out, people started sneaking glances at me and whispering to their acquaintances. I hated this awkward distance. It felt exactly like the first time I had faced the senior soldiers after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being assigned to a new unit. To feel that PTSD again…

“Hmm…”

I looked at the request board like the other adventurers. I needed to get my belt back and figure out my meals and lodging.

“F… F…”

Normal F-rank requests were basically chores—fetching things, killing weak monsters, simple errands. The pay was low and few people took them. Of course, not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every F-rank request was cheap.

The guild had open sexual requests posted without shame, and most of them targeted men. I knew there were brothels in the village, yet it seemed many clients preferred male adventurers who had survived brutal battles over ordinary men.

The guild master didn’t bring me here for nothing.

There weren’t many male adventurers, and she needed at least one more man to clear the mountain of sexual requests. Or rather, she needed a male prostitute.

I tore off the request that offered the highest gold reward among the F-rank ones and took it to the reception counter.

“Here.”

I showed the F-rank wooden tag and the request form to the male receptionist.

“This request has failed about ten times already. Are you sure?”

“I don’t know if it’s okay, but… I have to try.”

“If you want to work as an adventurer for a long time, I wouldn’t recommend this…”

Even the male staff member seemed genuinely concerned for me.

“If you still want to do it, I’ll stamp it approved.”

“Please stamp it.”

After watching the approval stamp slam down, I left the adventurer guild.