The Price of a Book
The sound of water droplets echoed around me, muffled like a scream from the depths of the ocean. They swirled near my ears before bursting with tiny pops. What the hell... I was sure I'd lost consciousness after seeing that blue light burst from Im Chan-woo...
The dim light illuminating the darkness let me examine my hands and feet. They moved. The memory of being hit by Im Chan-woo's blue light was gone, but the distinct sensation that something had felt completely different lingered.
What on earth happened? The feeling was too vivid to be a dream. My ears felt clogged like I was underwater, but my limbs moved normally.
'...As expected, there really are a lot of interesting things here.'
“...Who are you...?”
I was staring at my faintly visible hand, wiggling my fingers, when a voice came from right in front of me. I lifted my head, shifting my gaze from my hand to straight ahead. There sat a woman, chin in hand, surrounded by a mountain of books as she read through them.
I took a cautious step toward her and spoke. She looked up, gave a small smile, closed the book she'd been reading, tossed it aside, and began walking toward me.
'Oh, the connection's already this strong?'
“...What does that mean? No, first answer my question. Who are you?”
'Humans these days have no manners. There was a time when they practically worshipped me like a god...'
Her playful smile paired with that troubled expression strangely irritated me. So I grabbed the collar of her ragged clothes, yanked her closer, and spoke in a sharper tone.
“Answer me. Who are you? And where is this place?”
She gently brushed my hand off her collar, smiled sweetly, and replied.
'...I am Lapus. Remember the fruit you ate? That's me. And this place is inside you.'
“...Inside me?”
'Yes. Inside you. To be precise, it's your consciousness on the verge of shattering because the balance is off.'
The woman, radiating a mysterious aura, suddenly sat on a chair that appeared from nowhere and looked up at me with a bright grin.
So this woman was the fruit I ate? Then the person Im Chan-woo wanted to meet was possibly...
'That's right. It's me.'
“...Now even random dogs and cows can read my mind.”
'I told you, this is your consciousness. Your thoughts get read whether I want to or not.'
“...Ha. What the hell are you thinking while smiling like that? You said my consciousness is collapsing? What does that even mean? It sounds like I'm disappearing.”
'More accurately, the being known as you is being absorbed. By that man.'
“I don't care what happens to that. Just help me escape from here.”
'No, I don't want to. I have no reason to help you, and there's no benefit for me. Why would I bother with something so annoying and irrational?'
She flatly refused and pulled another book from thin air. Without thinking, I stepped forward and slapped her cheek. Her snow-white skin flushed crimson, and her beautiful blue hair fell into disarray. I snatched the book from her hands and scanned its contents.
Familiar landscapes. Knowledge I already possessed. And even my own past—things that would never appear in an ordinary book.
“...Well, I figured the books inside me would contain stuff like this.”
'...It was quite entertaining. Your story.'
“Ha, haha... Entertaining?”
'Yes. We always looked at the forest rather than the trees. We were too busy watching over humanity as a whole to examine any single person's private life. ...There were also things that guy wouldn't allow.'
She fixed her disheveled hair, stood from the chair, and reached to take the book back from my hands. As she extended her arm, I pulled mine back.
'...What are you doing?'
“...You monsters might not know this, but there's usually something called a rental fee. If you want to keep reading, it'd be nice if you paid the price, don't you think?”
'...Go on.'
Unlike me, who was desperately trying not to show how nervous I was—even swallowing hard—her eyes crinkled with amusement at the situation. I barely managed to speak while staring at her smiling eyes.
“...If you help me a little, I'll let you read my memories. Think about it carefully. If I get absorbed and disappear, these books are part of 'me,' so they'll vanish too, right? Then you won't be able to read anymore either.”
'Pffft...'
She looked like she was trying to hold it in, but eventually burst into laughter.
'...Ah, I got curious about what kind of human you were while reading the books, so I called you here. As expected, it was worth it. You're the most entertaining human I've ever met... Fine. I'll help you. But only a little.'
“...”
What was that? It looked like the same smile, but there was something inexplicably eerie about it. She slowly approached me and placed her finger on my forehead. A green light poured from it, enveloping my entire body.
“...What is this?”
'A kind of barrier. That man won't be able to interfere with your mind anymore. He won't be able to read it, and even his blue light won't work. But remember, it's only protecting your mind. Don't forget that.'
With those final words, she shoved me. I fell backward and was sucked away somewhere else.
'Honestly, I don't care what happens to you, but this seems like it'll be more fun... Hehe...'
“...Ugh... Mm....”
My heavy eyelids barely lifted, but my blurred vision still wouldn't focus. The soft mattress against my back told me I'd returned to reality. As my eyes gradually sharpened, Im Chan-woo came into view.
“...Are you awake?”
The scene before my fully returned vision nearly made me scream. Im Chan-woo was lying on the bed looking up at me, while I was straddling him in the most vulgar way—legs spread wide, his rock-hard cock pressed right against the entrance of my pussy.
“...Song I-ran, can you hear my voice?”
His observant eyes and gentle tone as he spoke to me. Did he think I was still under the blue light's hypnosis? Just to check, I secretly tried wiggling my toes. They moved exactly as I wanted. It seemed the woman's gift was real...
“...Can you hear me?”
He sat up, lifting his head to examine my condition more closely. The sudden situation had me so preoccupied I hadn't paid him any attention. What should I do? Thanks to that woman's help, I'd escaped the blue light's power for now, but that didn't mean I'd completely shaken off his grasp. If I tried to run recklessly, I'd just get caught again... So for now...
“...Yes, I can hear you...”
I relaxed my throat as much as possible and answered in a hoarse voice. I let the tension drain from my eyes too, staring blankly into space. I began acting like I was deeply hypnotized.
“...Good.”
Im Chan-woo watched me with a slightly doubtful expression for a moment before sinking into thought. He seemed to have tried reading my mind due to the unease, but it looked like he'd failed. He lay back down and commanded me in a calm tone, as if trying not to stimulate me.
Did I manage to fool him somehow? I secretly glanced at him while tensing my legs. By the way, had he been putting me under this hypnosis the whole time? The chill on my bare lower half and the burning heat in my face hit me at the same time. The shame made my spread legs start trembling, so I adjusted my posture.
“...Well, the position is set. Then now...”
“...”
While I tried to calm my pounding heart, Im Chan-woo finally spoke again. I'd pretend to follow whatever command came out of his mouth, then wait for an opening when he let his guard down. The sharp black fragment touching my foot was probably a piece of the shock device he'd smashed. Even if it couldn't kill him, stabbing it deep should immobilize him for a while...
The only problem was what kind of command this bastard would give...
I swallowed once and waited for the order to come from his lips.
“...Just stay exactly like that.”
“...Eh...?”
...What did he say? Stay in this position? I looked down to check my state again. My legs were bent like I was doing a squat, spread wide, while my hands were raised behind my head, completely exposing my chest. He wanted me to just stand there like this? What the hell was he thinking?
“Now then...”
As he spoke, Im Chan-woo extended a palm glowing with blue light toward me. Was he trying to release the hypnosis? For now, I had to play along convincingly. Matching his rhythm, I kept the exact same posture and put strength back into my eyes. Then I blinked like someone just waking up and looked at him.
“...You...”
“Don't worry. I didn't put anything special on you. At most, I just took away your body's freedom, that's all.”
In truth, thanks to that woman's help, I'd already broken free of the hypnosis itself. But what should I do now? In this state, I couldn't even pick up the fragment... Anyway, I needed to act angry and assess the situation.
“...So what the hell is this supposed to be?”
“Remember the first day I tried to take you? I've forced myself on someone before, but it didn't really appeal to me. So I decided to give you the chance to choose for yourself.”
As he spoke, Im Chan-woo pulled out his phone and started playing a movie.
“...What are you doing?”
“If you really don't want to do it with me, just hold that position until this movie ends. Then I'll really let you go without doing anything else. But if, and I mean if...”
“...”
He gestured with his chin toward his erect cock.
“If you can't hold out, you can use this however you want. Of course, if that happens, you won't be yourself anymore.”
“Pfft, pffthaha... What is this, are you serious?”
“Of course. I keep my promises. It's real.”
I looked down at Im Chan-woo as he laid out those ridiculous conditions and burst into laughter with all my strength. If this went well, I might be able to escape without even having to struggle. Sure, holding an uncomfortable position for two hours would be tough, but there was no way I'd ever want this guy.
“So, are you going to do it?”
“...Fine. Don't complain later.”
“...♡”
My head... feels hazy... What is this... Why is it like this... He's not even doing anything else—just pressing his cock against my pussy. My lower belly feels so hot and aching...
How many hours have passed? One? Three? Was this movie always this long? I lowered my gaze to look at Im Chan-woo. But he wasn't even glancing at me. With earphones in, he was completely focused on the movie, showing zero interest in me.
Sticky fluids were pouring from my pussy, flowing down his cock, while my womb trembled and cried out pitifully. What the hell is happening to my body...♡
Ah, no, my legs are losing strength...
“Ah♡”
I forced strength back into my weakening legs to maintain the position, but his glans gently brushed up against my clit. The pleasure that finally crashed over me felt like... discovering an oasis in the middle of the desert.
The hazy fog in my mind cleared in an instant, replaced by a maddening sense of liberation.
“...Haa...!♡ Haa...!♡”
Just from that light brush, it feels this good...
Come to think of it, when Im Chan-woo fingered my pussy earlier, it felt incredibly good too... The overwhelming pleasure that makes me lose myself. Just from a finger, just from a brush, it's already this intense... What would it feel like if something much thicker and bigger plunged deep inside me...?
“...Uht?! N-no...!!”
What the hell am I thinking right now? Have I lost my mind from staying like this too long? My reason was screaming that, but my eyes kept drifting back to the cock between my legs. It glistened, slick with the love juices I'd released. Compared to fingers, it looked so reliable... so solid...
I lifted my gaze to check Im Chan-woo's expression. He was still frowning, completely absorbed in the movie on the screen. ...He wasn't paying any attention to me at all.
I looked back at his cock and swallowed once.
....Just the tip... wouldn't be so bad, right? Y-yeah... My head isn't working properly because of this throbbing ache... It's just so I can come up with a proper escape plan. Just a little...