Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Secret of the Status Window
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Day after day, just handling the flood of unexpected situations was exhausting enough, but now another new problem had cropped up.
Hayes.
The girl living right next to me.
Up until now, she seemed content leading her little clique in their annoying whispers or sneaking subtle gropes at night...
"Jeong-woo, whatcha doing?"
But as time passed, her actions were getting bolder.
Even during lineup for training, when we were all sitting and waiting, she'd lean over toward me and sprawl out for no reason.
Yet I couldn't say a word. I couldn't even snap at her.
"...Hey, could you sit up straight?"
"What?"
The moment I expressed myself like that,
Hayes slowly straightened up and sat properly...
"That hurts my feelings. Jeong-woo, if you act like that, I really don't know what to do with myself."
She shot me a sly glance.
That smirk carried pure, brazen confidence.
[Keep acting up, and I'll spill everything about you and Drill Sergeant Kate to the squad leader.]
That was the message in her eyes. Smug as hell, thrilled to have my weakness in her grip.
"Let's get along, huh? Loosen up that face! We're in the same squad, after all!"
I swallowed my anger and nodded.
I had to endure. One wrong move, and I'd be in a real bind.
"I'll help you manage the squad. Anything you need, just say the word. Got it?"
So close. Way too close...
No way to push back Hayes giggling right in my face.
Damn it.
This was all because of that idiot Kate.
10 minutes.
The brief break after intense mental training.
I bolted straight to the bathroom, claimed a stall, and locked the door.
Click.
It was just a tiny partitioned space, but this was the only place I could be alone.
My short break, permitted to me.
Now that I was finally by myself.
"..."
I stroked the tattoo on my wrist and checked my status window.
Every day,
Without fail,
I'd been experimenting with the status window and tattoo, trying to figure out how they worked.
Of course, up to now, I'd gotten nowhere.
But today, I dove in even more thoroughly,
Without missing a single detail.
It was the pressure from daily life weighing on me.
Drill Sergeant Kate's changed attitude,
Hayes the budding sexual harasser closing in.
Those two things were strangling me with stress. Breathing felt stuffy, and my temples throbbed.
Clutching at straws, I fiddled with the status window nonstop. I poked, swiped, pinched the holographic display floating before my eyes.
Maybe I'd missed some hidden ability? If I'd been dragged to another world, there had to be some special power backing it up, right?
But no matter how much I poked around, nothing unusual showed up. Same as always.
The achievement window blown up big,
Arousal Points and Military Life Points...
Just a bunch of weird metrics that were utterly useless to me. Total garbage info.
Still, I kept staring at it because, for just these lame indicators, the layout felt way too spacious and empty.
It looked hollow. There had to be hidden elements.
I needed to find them.
By any means necessary.
Arousal Points: 49
Excellent! Not everyone has the charm to drive people mad with desire. You're quite the captivating one, aren't you?
Military Life Points: 19
You're showing outstanding results across the board. Keep this up, and you'll breeze through life at your permanent post!
But it was always the same screen.
Telling me how horny I was,
How well I was doing in the army...
[Achievement Storage]
Just a record of which achievements I'd cleared. And achievements weren't anything special. Military ones boosted Military Life Points, ones that teased the girls boosted Arousal Points. That was it.
What a load of bullshit. No, the points just jumping up like this was weird too. And achievements popping off constantly? Super suspicious.
Who the hell even made this system?
Normally, some goddess pops up and explains everything. What kind of idiot dumbfuck moron trash bastard dragged me here and gave me this ridiculous half-assed power, then expected me to survive...
"..."
Hold up.
Something's off.
Thinking back, the first time I got an achievement, there was a guidance message.
[Finish your military service healthily and enjoyably, then return to Earth!]
Unforgettable.
That tutorial message felt like it was mocking me...
Then later,
When the tattoo countdown plummeted because of Kate, a warning popped up.
[However, special discharge due to pregnancy means no return to your original world.]
Considering those two instances,
The status window only shows guidance messages the first time I do something specific?
Or when special conditions are met...
Whatever. The system being super user-unfriendly was still the truth.
Like something was missing,
I knew nothing about this world, nothing about my powers.
Once my logic reached that point,
A chill ran down my spine for no reason.
Why was I dragged here without explanation? Why were my powers incomplete? Why no tutorial?
A few guesses swirled in my head, but none were hopeful.
Wrongly summoned,
The summoner was a total moron,
Or info was deliberately restricted...
Or maybe,
The mandatory [Tutorial] got skipped for some reason?
No way to know the truth. But with a status window and tattoo prepared just for me, this neglectful bullshit didn't add up.
Something was wrong. The chain of events wasn't connecting properly.
What was it?
What the hell was it?
Why was I even here?
Why me, of all people...
Thud, thud.
"Argh, fuck! Those shitty instructor bastards."
"Right?"
Before I could finish brooding,
Voices drifted in from outside the bathroom door.
My nerves tensed. Maybe I'd lingered too long.
Time to head back. The break was only 10 minutes, and I'd probably burned 7 already.
"Fuck, I wanna discharge so bad."
"Same."
I ignored the rowdy group of girls outside, tidied up, and prepared to leave...
"Should I just close my eyes and beat the shit outta them? Buncha nobodies yapping endlessly. Go beastkin on 'em, and they'd get skinned alive."
The mood out there was off. Dangerous.
Some girls here spat curses like that—gangster types. Best not to tangle with them.
Because they were gossiping about the instructors, I had to hunker down in the stall longer. Eye contact now would make things awkward as hell.
"They say nothing's as fucked as the army... Spot on. Right?"
"Totally. Fuck. If I'd known, I'd have studied magic instead. Get a few certs, skip this shit altogether."
Still, I kinda got where they were coming from.
Nothing stresses you out like the army. Forced routine, controlled freedom, normalized oppression...
It wears you down.
Without venting like that, it'd be unbearable.
"Better yet, just pop out a kid and bail."
"Yeah, fair."
Crude talk helps relieve stress too.
Huddling with close buddies, shooting the shit like that, makes even shitty days tolerable.
"Should I just have one now?"
"Pfft! You psycho."
But...
The conversation took a weird turn.
"That guy in 2-2 Squad."
"Oh, that one."
Leaving the stall suddenly felt riskier.
The topic had shifted to me.
"Man, he's seriously fucked. Wish I'd been in his barracks."
"I'd have discharged day one."
Shit.
Break was almost over.
"Sigh... Fuck... Legend for real. I hold back every time he passes, but I'm reaching my limit."
"Two weeks no-fap? Makes sense. Longest I've gone in my life."
They ramped up the vulgarity, cackling among themselves.
"Beg him? If he begs desperately, maybe he'll give in once?"
"And if he doesn't? Act up, and we smash him flat—"
Bang!
Couldn't wait anymore.
Stay longer, and I'd be late returning—only I'd get chewed out.
"Strip him down and—"
"Uh..."
"..."
I opened the door and stepped out.
The two girls who'd been treating me like jerk-off material froze, glancing at me nervously.
I wasn't really mad.
If they were ugly, I'd have decked 'em,
But eh, they were decent enough...
"Sigh."
Still, I couldn't help sighing.
Every girl here underperformed on looks.
Sex-crazed monsters or what?
Tsk.
With genuine pity, I clicked my tongue openly and walked past them.
But...
Suddenly...
Ding!
An alert blared out of nowhere, and my tattoo vibrated.
Wondering what it was, I looked down.
A holographic message floated there.
Congratulations! Arousal Points have exceeded 50!
[Arousal Points Shop function unlocked.]
No way those crazy bitches got turned on by my sigh?
...Fine, whatever.
But what the hell was this random guidance message?
Hell yeah!
Thank you so much.
Finally, something popped!