Chapter 119: Board Game (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 119: Board Game (6)
[All games will now conclude.]
[We wish you the best on the journey that lies ahead.]
The Goddess’s voice echoed faintly in my ears.
I opened my eyes, bewildered.
“…?”
The moment I tried to sit up, I felt something tangled all over my body.
I looked down to see Cheon Yeo-wool and me pressed tightly together on the floor.
Our faces, arms, and legs were stuck together so closely it was embarrassing to even mention.
Like two slugs piled on top of each other.
Startled, I struggled to pull away.
“Hey… Hey…”
I tried to gently push her off, but Cheon Yeo-wool just blinked her eyes and snuggled in closer.
“Honey… what’s wrong?”
What do you mean, ‘honey’?
Her voice was sweet, as if she couldn’t tell the difference between reality and the game at all.
She just kept pressing closer.
Wriggling, squirming, she seemed intent on holding me even tighter.
“Should we… go again?”
“Go again with what, exactly?” I answered, horrified.
She buried her face in my chest, letting out a soft, sleepy mumble.
Just then.
—Thwack!
“Ack.”
Someone kicked Cheon Yeo-wool hard in the back.
It was a fuming Yoon Chae-ha.
Kang A-rin, Ha Sion, and Yu Hana were also coming to their senses one by one, dazedly getting to their feet.
Only one slug couldn’t seem to find the line between reality and the game.
Still seething, Yoon Chae-ha grit her teeth and rushed toward the Cube on the table.
“Demon’s Game!!!” she screamed.
—CRASH!
She slammed the Cube down with all her might, shattering it into pieces.
“…Ah?”
“…Huh?”
For a moment, everyone’s gaze froze in mid-air.
And only then, like a tidal wave, did the lives they had lived inside the game begin to crash into their minds all at once.
*
The first to open her eyes was Kang A-rin.
Fundamentally, she had strong self-control and mental fortitude.
In truth, she had only been immersed because she’d chosen to be; she could have broken free at any time if she’d resisted.
The reason she’d maintained her immersion until the very end was because the game’s intent was unusual from the start.
As she opened her eyes, she thought:
Ah…
All I did was set someone else up for a good time.
The original plan was to invite only Jung Hae-in and test the game with just the two of them.
Just the two of them.
Because it was a prototype with the limits of immersion removed, it was designed so their life together would go all the way—truly, to the very end.
If time had gone on, it probably would have been the same for Cheon Yeo-wool and Jung Hae-in.
That had certainly been the intention…
But in the end, she’d just done someone else a favor.
She had lived a successful life, scouted from the royal knights to a Duke’s family, but in the final moments, Jung Hae-in wasn’t by her side.
That, she couldn’t help but regret.
The next to open her eyes was Ha Sion.
She remained face down on the floor, lifting her head just slightly.
Ah… if only I’d had a little more time…
He had finally met Jung Hae-in.
It was the moment he’d eagerly anticipated, when he could finally make him his own.
He truly believed that with just a little more time, he could have become Jung Hae-in’s wife.
Cruelly, the game had ended right at the beginning of that chapter.
…What a shame.
Regret and a tender fondness mingled in a complex swirl of emotions.
The third to open her eyes was Yu Hana.
Slowly, she let out a deep breath.
Even though it was a game, her heart pounded at the sight of him, an unbearable feeling.
It was a moment that proved her love for him once again.
However, the approach had been rather peculiar, and a far cry from Yu Hana’s usual moral compass.
To think I was an adulteress…
But deep down, the thrilling sensation of a forbidden relationship dominated her body.
At first, she was embarrassed, and somewhere inside, ashamed.
But by directly living out a forbidden emotion she would never normally entertain, she felt she had come to understand a little better what it was she truly wanted.
Could it be that I…
Yu Hana was awakening to a new preference.
Finally, Cheon Yeo-wool slowly lifted her head.
She, too, recalled the events of the game.
She could feel her face, her cheeks, the very tips of her ears turning beet red.
Along with the shame came a dizzying bliss so intense it felt like it would drive her insane.
She had experienced almost every act she had ever dreamed of.
All but one.
The touch of his lips and his scent were still etched in her mind, refusing to fade.
The only slight disappointment was that they hadn’t actually done the deed.
But then again, she had experienced everything leading up to it…
All that was left was to do the rest for real.
All four women, each in their own way, shared a similar feeling.
What a shame.
If anything, that feeling slowly began to heat something deep inside them.
A small ember, left behind by their longing, was burning within them.
*
I, too, came to my senses.
The memories came flooding back immediately.
—I’ll always love you, honey.
—Me too…
—Ugh.
And finally.
—Hah…
The countless, blush-inducing exchanges I’d shared with Cheon Yeo-wool stabbed at my mind like crazy.
Was this real?
My wife’s… no, Cheon Yeo-wool’s breathing still seemed to ring in my ears.
Her naked form, which I could never get used to seeing.
Her moist lips, their warmth.
Ah.
For a moment, my fingertips trembled.
This couldn’t be real.
I could feel my face growing hotter and hotter.
Kang A-rin, that crazy woman.
I never imagined she’d bring a game this insane.
I covered my face with both hands and let out a long sigh.
For several minutes, no one in the room spoke.
The only sound was Yoon Chae-ha’s seething as she tried to swallow her anger.
I cautiously removed my hands and looked around.
Everyone’s face was flushed as red as a ripe persimmon.
And they were all staring into space.
After a brief pause, I spoke quietly.
“Sorry.”
I had caused a social disturbance.
Even if it wasn’t my intention, I felt like I just had to apologize.
“For what…?”
The first to answer was Cheon Yeo-wool, right beside me.
I hesitated for a moment before…
“Just… for everything.”
I mumbled vaguely.
The truth was, because of me, someone had become an adulteress.
Someone else, a nun blinded by carnal desire.
Another, a noble lady blinded by love.
And yet another, a knight jealous of that noble lady.
I had no idea what kind of messed-up game this was.
But then, Cheon Yeo-wool, who was sitting next to me hugging her knees, whispered quietly.
“I… I’m okay…”
Her voice was small and trailed off, unlike her usual self.
“Of course you’d be okay.”
It was then that Yoon Chae-ha, sitting next to her, shot back curtly with her arms crossed.
Come to think of it, Yoon Chae-ha and I had had no interaction at all within the game.
And yet, she was the one who had ended it.
She sat there, lips pressed into a firm line, before finally bursting out with her complaint.
“I was the only one… the only one who couldn’t get immersed, it was so frustrat…”
Yoon Chae-ha couldn’t finish her sentence.
She hung her head low.
Seeing her like that, I felt an unusually strong sense of pity.
Without thinking, I got up from my seat and quietly approached her.
I gently wrapped an arm around the sulking Yoon Chae-ha’s waist and, without hesitation, lifted her up.
“…?”
I sat her on my lap and gently pulled her into an embrace.
She froze for a second, but then, very slowly, she burrowed deeper into my arms.
As if in response, I slowly placed a hand on her head and stroked it gently.
“…Hn.”
Flushing red from the tips of her ears to her cheeks, Yoon Chae-ha buried her head deep.
I thought I could feel her body trembling slightly.
And then I snapped back to reality again.
Huh…?
What on earth was I doing all of a sudden…?
Without realizing it, I had acted out the same thing I used to do naturally when my wife was pouting.
This was how Yeo-wool would calm down, silently leading me to the bedroom afterward…
No, seriously, get a grip.
I happened to look up.
Every single pair of eyes in the room was fixed on me.
When I cautiously raised my head, I saw Cheon Yeo-wool staring at me, her face expressionless but the corners of her eyes slightly raised.
Then, without a word, she spread her arms wide.
A gesture for me to come into her embrace, as if it were the most familiar and natural thing in the world.
For a split second, I almost felt my body being pulled toward her on its own.
I cleared my throat, hastily letting go of Yoon Chae-ha and putting some distance between us.
Yoon Chae-ha, her ears now bright red, clenched her fists tightly.
The heat in the room did not cool down easily.
The atmosphere suggested that no one had fully returned to reality yet.
“Let’s get out of here, quickly,” I said, raising my voice, trying my best to sound casual.
Only then did everyone nod and get to their feet.
Outside, it was already the middle of the night.
The door was covered in sticky notes from the club president.
– Looked like you guys were having fun, so I clocked out without waking you! Lock up on your way out~!
What a considerate club president.
How nice it would have been if he’d just woken us up.
I couldn’t tell what time he’d left the note, but it was already dawn outside.
I immediately ran to a 24-hour cafe and bought six iced Americanos.
One-liter cups.
It was the only way to get our heads straight.
I handed them out one by one to the others, who were sitting dazedly on a bench.
“Drink up and snap out of it.”
Then I sat down.
—Sluuurp.
—Sluuurp.
The sound of coffee being sipped quietly filled the early morning park.
I cupped the plastic cup with both hands and sat staring blankly ahead.
And then, I fully registered the side effects of this game.
Normally, I would have been cracking jokes and messing around without a second thought… but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to look them in the face right now.
Don’t see the characters as romantic interests. That was my creed.
But this game had completely ruined it.
I could only stare at my coffee, avoiding everyone’s gaze.
Just then, someone called my name.
“Hae-in.”
I cautiously lifted my head.
It was Cheon Yeo-wool.
She wore her usual smile, but it was laced with a slightly deeper sense of mischief.
Her eyes were curved gently like crescent moons.
“Why aren’t you looking this way?”
As her clear voice rang out, the others sitting beside her also began to smile, one by one.
Each wore a subtle grin, looking at me with meaningful expressions.
Their eyes were filled with anticipation.
In that moment, my breath caught in my throat.