Chapter 188: Are You a Virgin?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 188: Are You a Virgin?
Soaking in a hot tub is the best.
It wasn't just pure water but a medicinal bath, so it had a bit of a nutty, earthy aroma, but this was a treasure that boosted stats.
I wasn't sure if it was thanks to the bath, but the Gate aftereffects felt a little better while I was submerged. Even so, my body still felt weak and achy, making my nerves feel frayed.
I was worried I might snap at Park Yu-jeong if she started playing around. If I got serious, she’d probably get sulky and tease me even more, wouldn't she? Maybe I should tell her beforehand that I wasn't feeling well.
I stayed in for nearly an hour to get the maximum effect, and by the time I climbed out, my head was spinning.
I put on the robe the Old Man had prepared and stepped outside. The girls were already out, and Park Yu-jeong greeted me.
"Oh, look at sexy Yeon-woo."
"Yeon-woo, you take long baths. I like baths too."
"You're taking longer than a girl."
Yeah, yeah. Let's all bathe together later.
I approached the table where they were sitting, listening to Angelica’s sparkling eyes and the Mad Dog’s grumbling. Everyone was sipping on a drink.
They had been incredibly wary at first, but now they all looked relaxed. I assumed the Old Man handled the facility maintenance, but where did they get commercial drinks when they didn't even have bath supplies?
"Did you enjoy your bath? Would you like something to drink?"
"Do you have banana milk?"
"I am sorry, but we do not have that."
They didn't know the golden rule of bathhouses? The service here was terrible.
I took whatever was offered and looked around at the girls.
"How are the effects?"
"Like you said, my mana feels more refined."
"I feel like my mana capacity increased too."
Park Yu-jeong felt the effects immediately, while Chika seemed to be imagining things.
The explanation provided was that bathing here removed the toxins accumulated in the body, bringing one's mana closer to its natural state. In terms of the game system, however, it only boosted casting speed by a few percent.
Still, being able to use a skill even a few percent faster would be a massive help in a reality where lives were staked on split-second decisions.
"Can we keep getting the effect as long as we have the ingredients?"
"That is..."
"Allow me to explain that."
Seeing an opportunity to brag about the facility, the Old Man began explaining the benefits as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
Is there no skip button? I felt this in the game too, but this guy talks way too much.
Then again, it was understandable. He’d probably been waiting for guests all alone since the Great Cataclysm, so he’d want to keep talking just out of sheer joy.
His explanation was long-winded, but to summarize: it was a process of removing toxins that naturally accumulate over time, so doing it multiple times in a row wouldn't help. They would start to build up again after a few years, so it would be worth it then, but doing it back-to-back would just make your body smell like herbs without any added benefit.
"Hmm~"
After hearing the explanation, Park Yu-jeong looked thoughtful with a disinterested face and then leaned in close to me.
Since the girls were also wearing the robes provided here, the thought that they were naked under that thin fabric was... stimulating.
No. Don't you dare wake up. If I get an erection now, this robe won't be able to hide it.
"Are you going to tell Barbat about this?"
"..."
I stared at her blankly as she whispered.
I could never tell what Park Yu-jeong was thinking, but right now, I felt like I knew. And I probably had a look of greed on my face similar to hers.
That's Park Yu-jeong for you.
This wasn't a game; it was reality. If this ruin were discovered, every mage in the world would flock to Barbat once every few years.
Tourism... I wasn't sure if that was the right word, but once the benefits of the bath became known, many guests would regularly open Gates to visit, resulting in massive profits.
In the game, you just took the stat boost and left, but this place would remain.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Probably the same thing as you?"
We grinned at each other with eyes full of greed. We couldn't just leave a money tree like this alone.
As expected of the chairman of the SA Group, she had an incredible nose for the scent of money.
Park Yu-jeong instantly calculated the approximate profit Barbat would gain from this bathhouse.
Improvement in Barbat's mages' skills, security, tourism revenue, national prestige, selling usage rights to other governments—things I hadn't even considered poured out of her mouth one after another.
"The best thing would be for us to take control of this."
"That sounds great. Then we'll need to recruit a few Barbat officials first."
"Kaaa~ Yeon-woo, I knew we spoke the same language."
"Wow, you two look truly evil right now."
While I was excitedly discussing business with Park Yu-jeong, Chika muttered with a look of disgust.
Hey now, you have to make money while you can. This is why kids born into rich families are hopeless. They don't know the value of money. I'm already on the verge of bankruptcy because of the Whitening Phenomenon cure.
"..."
Just as I was about to dive back into the business talk, I felt a gaze and turned to see Shizuka staring at me.
"What?"
"Is this the only reason you called me here?"
"Is this not enough for you?"
"I can't say it wasn't helpful. But—"
Shizuka stopped talking when I raised my hand.
She was my favorite character, after all; did she really think I’d only prepared this? Of course, I’d prepared the full course.
"Can we use the sauna?"
"Ho-ho! Are you truly not an affiliate? Only a few among the staff even knew of the sauna's existence. Of course, I have finished the maintenance, so you may use it."
The Old Man, seemingly delighted that someone recognized his facility, went back into explanation mode. How amazing the technology was, how the effects worked, blah blah blah...
Simply put, it had the effect of strengthening one's highest stat or trait. If I went in, my Mana Barrier would increase; for Angelica, it would be mana; and for Yukina, her Ghost Fire would be strengthened.
I had considered bringing Yukina here because of her Ghost Fire trait, but there were things for her to gain where she was, and besides, she wouldn't need strengthening once I gave her her exclusive item anyway.
"Is it really that helpful?"
"It's an ancient ruin, after all."
"Has enough time passed for our facility to be called a ruin? Its prestige has certainly risen."
I meant it was old, but I wasn't sure if its prestige had risen.
The Old Man smiled contentedly, while Chika looked skeptical, as if she couldn't believe it. Well, honestly, it was hard to believe. You've worked your ass off to build your skills, and then you're told that sweating once in a sauna will permanently increase your stats—you'd be happy, but you'd also wonder if it was for real.
"What will improve if I go in?"
"You're asking because you don't know?"
When I pointed to my eyes, Shizuka fell silent.
The fact that the eyes she received from her mother—or rather, the eyes her father stole and forcibly implanted into her—would be strengthened probably didn't sit well with her. But she needed to get stronger to take down her father and the family, and she knew the necessity of those eyes.
"Then, everyone, please follow me. I will guide you."
"Ah, I'm good. I'll wait here."
"Eh? Why?"
Because there was a restriction.
"Let's go in together~ It's the harem sauna Yeon-woo loves. Don't you want to see the Mute sweating and the Personality-Disordered one fluttering her collar because it's hot?"
What kind of person did Park Yu-jeong take me for, trying to tempt me with those words? No, honestly, I did want to see it, but I couldn't anyway because of the restriction.
"I see. You have already been stained with other colors."
The Old Man, who knew everything about the facility, nodded as if he understood. And what a sophisticated way to put it, "stained with other colors." If that were the case, wouldn't I be black from being stained with so many colors?
"Other colors?"
Angelica, who didn't understand, tilted her head. It was a bit embarrassing to have to explain this to the innocent Angelica of all people.
"Only virgins can enter."
"...What? Why?"
"Don't ask me. I don't know either. Just you four go."
"Eh? Why am I excluded?"
Park Yu-jeong, do you have no conscience?
...Wait, really?
I was shocked to see Park Yu-jeong looking genuinely bewildered.
"Are you really a virgin?"
"Asking someone if they're a virgin so bluntly is so uncool~"
A girl who's a virgin gets naked massages, watches me have sex right next to her, and tastes semen with her finger? No matter how I looked at it, she seemed plenty experienced, yet Park Yu-jeong was claiming to be a virgin.
While I was staring at her blankly, Chika spoke up, sounding offended.
"Do I... look that easy?"
"Are you a virgin too?"
"...Uh... yeah..."
Chika answered belatedly, as if debating whether it was more embarrassing to be a virgin or to have experience.
You... you still haven't done it with Akito...? Why?
I desperately wanted to ask, but I couldn't. Even if Chika and Shiori picked their choices with their feet, shouldn't they have had at least one H-scene by now? She and Shiori go to hotels and do it all the time.
"...The two of you are virgins, right?"
"..."
"Y-Yes..."
Since it was so different from what I expected, I asked just in case. Shizuka ignored me as if it wasn't worth answering, and Angelica lowered her head, her cheeks flushing.
Well... anyway, that's good. It means all four of them can get the boost.
As the atmosphere turned awkward, the Old Man spoke cheerfully and guided the four of them to the sauna.
That Old Man was an ancient... is it right to call him an ancient? Since it's an ancient ruin, I guess he's an ancient. Even though he's a lifeform created by ancients, his emotions are just like a human's. If he's lived for hundreds of years managing the facility, isn't he higher-performing than the Elves, who are also created lifeforms?
The Elves here are Elves in name only; their lifespan is only about 150 years. The more I learn about this world, the more the balance seems completely haywire.
The Old Man returned alone, presumably after starting the sauna, and said he would attend to me. There wasn't much to attend to, so I was just passing the time.
"Ah, by any chance, can you contact Malta?"
"Where would Malta be? I apologize for my lack of knowledge."
It was only natural he wouldn't know, having been stuck in this facility for hundreds of years. I asked because it was mentioned later that communication between ruins was possible, but the Old Man didn't know the name Malta.
"The Loading Dock, I mean. The Loading Dock."
"If you mean the Loading Dock... there are 34 currently operational locations. Which one are you referring to?"
Thirty-four? Now that was a new fact.
In the game, you could only visit the Loading Dock once when you went to Malta. Since they were ancient ruins, the items there were all ancient relics, making them quite lucrative. And I could raid them 34 times?
Plus, it wasn't like the game where I could only take what was in the treasure chests.
I smelled more money.
I immediately engaged in a deep conversation with the Old Man and obtained the locations and access rights for the Loading Docks near our government. There was only one inside the Barrier, but I’d have to make sure to stop by a Loading Dock and grab some good items when I went out on a quest later.
What a windfall. I never thought the fact that this was reality would be so helpful. Maybe there were even legendary-grade items? Most high-performance equipment was ancient relics, after all.
A short while after I finished talking with the Old Man, the four of them came out.
Perhaps because they had bathed again after the sauna, they didn't have the flushed skin and sweat-soaked appearance I’d expected, but the aura they gave off had clearly changed.
"Was it helpful?"
"Thanks. I've never felt this refreshed in my life."
The effects were apparently immediate; Chika looked excited as she clenched and unclenched her fists, and Park Yu-jeong smiled brightly.
"Yeon-woo, we should charge Barbat 1.8 times more than what I calculated earlier."
The price she’d calculated earlier was already astronomical, so for her to say 1.8 times more, she must have really felt the effects. Angelica also seemed highly satisfied, saying with a beaming face that she’d be more helpful now, and Shizuka...
"..."
"Was it helpful?"
"..."
"Was it help—"
"Stop talking. Yes, thank you."
Good heavens, I actually heard a "thank you" from my favorite character. And from her, who was a woman of few words, cold, and hated me. Shizuka's single sentence made coming here worth it.
Together with Park Yu-jeong, I talked to the Old Man and obtained the rights to the bathhouse. He kept talking about an "Administrator," so I wondered, but I never thought I’d actually become the owner. With this, even the Barbat government wouldn't be able to use the bathhouse as they pleased.
"Once we get back, we should start by hoarding the ingredients used for the bath."
Once the existence of the bathhouse became known, the price of the necessary ingredients would skyrocket. Park Yu-jeong seemed excited at the thought of making money.
By the time we passed through the ruins and finished the bath and sauna, it was early morning. Even though they’d stayed up all night, everyone looked refreshed, perhaps because their stats had increased, but since we had a schedule for later, we retreated to our respective rooms for now.
"Phew~ At least I took care of the most important thing."
As soon as I entered my room, I dove onto the bed and enjoyed its softness. Now, the only thing left to get from Barbat was... the incense burner, but was there no way to get it?
While I was pondering, I saw something near the head of the bed and picked it up.
What is this?
A large orb that fit in one hand had flames that felt like a galaxy slowly rotating inside it, as if it held the sun itself. From its incredible visual effects to the mana it contained, it was clearly no ordinary object.
...I didn't bring anything like this with me, though?
BAM!
"Don't move!"
The door was suddenly thrown open, and mages swarmed in, surrounding me.
"Eh? What?"
"Seo Yeon-woo! You are under arrest for the theft of a Holy Relic!"
A Holy Relic?
I blankly turned my head and looked at the orb in my hand.
Flames like the sun... Could this be... the Taehwan Jewel?