Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Fate, Chance, Inevitability
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What the hell am I supposed to do about this?
If I just sit here, Kate's definitely getting dragged off to the brig. This isn't something we can just brush under the rug anymore.
Not only did she get physical with a trainee, they even threw punches at each other, and now she's forged official documents...
My vision blurs with dread. Seeing Kate trembling in panic only makes my heart sink heavier.
"..."
I take a deep breath and check my status window.
I've got a measly 13 Arousal Points left.
If I use Forced Orgasm twice, that'll wipe them out.
Even if I flash my goods to the other trainees all day, I'd only scrape together 6 to 8 points.
Bottom line, what I've got now is nowhere near enough. Things are already heating up with Hayes and her crew—if I blow more points here...
Vitality Recovery!
Arousal Points: 13 → 7
"Hng... Nyaaat... Hic..."
But looking at Kate just muddles my head all over again.
Truth be told, the easiest path is to cut her loose completely and protect myself.
No need to overthink it. Report that she jumped me, spill every detail of what's happened—done.
That's it.
Connections made at the training center don't last long anyway. Once you're off to your unit, everyone forgets.
"What am I gonna do now... Hic... I could've just had the baby and lived quietly... Hic..."
Exactly.
Just fleeting ties.
Like a gentle breeze brushing our fingertips before vanishing into emptiness...
Human bonds come like coincidence,
and fade as if inevitable.
But still,
I spend points to find a simple way out of this mess.
One of the Arousal Point skills, Vitality Recovery!, has some ridiculously overpowered description.
Vitality Recovery! : 5 points
(Recovers accumulated fatigue and damage, restoring a healthy state. You can go all night!)
Vitality Recovery!
Arousal Points: 7 → 2
Thanks to the option to recover accumulated fatigue and damage, all the big and small wounds and scratches on me and Kate start fading away.
"What... is this...?"
Kate blinks in confusion as she receives the healing.
Like a drenched stray cat melting under a warm blow dryer, her frizzy hair fluffs back up.
Her puffy eyes from all the crying seem a bit calmer too.
I quickly wipe the tears from her eyes and pat her cheeks.
"Listen up."
It's just a fleeting connection anyway.
So,
trainees like me don't need to leave a good impression here.
"I'm shipping out to my unit soon anyway. Everything that happened at the training center won't matter a damn bit. As long as it's not on record, no one knows. The Company Commander can't just call my unit and spill everything—even she'd be scared of the backlash."
Kate blinks her big, pretty eyes, listening quietly.
She looks
so cute and beautiful like this.
A real stunner with cat ears and a tail to boot.
How did things get so twisted? Was it my mixed signals?
But I didn't want to pass up losing my virginity to someone as hot as Kate. There wasn't much responsibility on my end anyway. This is a gender-flipped world.
"I came back looking for you and caused a scene. I trashed the warehouse throwing stuff around."
But now that it's ending, only regrets remain. Should've shut it down hard from the start. Or, after we'd already done it, maybe tried for something real with her.
But my instincts blocked any romance with Kate.
Whether it was her weird behavior and obsession,
or some deep-seated [something] crawling up from inside me,
I don't know.
I'm always like this.
Whenever things line up to actually date a girl,
my chest tightens, breathing gets hard, and I can't seal the deal.
Kate was the first to come on so strong, so I went with it in the heat of the moment, but even turning that into a relationship? Nah.
It's weird and baffling.
Or maybe,
I'm just a total virgin at heart.
"You didn't do anything wrong. I seduced you, and you fell for it. You're just an ace instructor who got duped once by a sleazy guy. I'm just some trainee leaving with no regrets. Got it?"
"No, I... underst—"
Slap slap!
I pat her cheeks again.
She needs to get her head straight now.
Once she's hauled in front of the Senior Instructor and Company Commander, she'll need a solid story.
"Your job's simple. Burn that forged application letter right now, then lay low. No other instructor here matches your skills—you'll bounce back to ace status in no time."
Kate's clear eyes reflect only me. What’s she thinking? Does she even get what I'm saying?
"Go on. The Company Commander's looking for you. And add this: you've been head over heels for this guy Han Jeong-woo, caused a ton of trouble, but now you're snapping out of it to focus on your service."
She's especially pretty today. All her previous antics were dumb, annoying, or straight-up turn-offs.
But Kate silently staring at me with her mouth shut feels somehow pure and stunning.
Expressions you'd use back in my original world.
This is a gender-flipped world,
and Kate's a pretty aggressive, over-the-top girl.
"..."
I can sum up her face in one phrase. Embarrassing to say it myself, but Kate is...
"Yeah."
Wearing the face of a girl in love.
"Got it."
Not twisted possession,
but the fresh, blushing thrill of first love.
It might feel like a shady ending.
I gained nothing from it.
I cleared her name, easing my conscience, but burned through every Arousal Point—now even protecting myself is dicey.
"Kate, you in there—"
I pull off an Oscar-worthy performance as the Senior Instructor opens the warehouse door.
Channeling faceless women dumped after trying to snag a guy to fix their fate, mimicking their gestures and tone.
"God, useless bitches like you? Hard pass from me! Can't even get me out of the army? You lured me in for nothing. No skills, shitty tits—no use for you anymore!"
Bam—
Then I fling the door open and bolt.
"What the...? Hey! You there!"
The Senior Instructor chases after my fleeing ass for push-ups, but stops dead at the trashed warehouse and dazed Kate.
"Wha? Kate, what's wrong...! What happened?!"
Two women left alone in the warehouse,
and the scandal that rocked the training center draws to a close.
A heartless bastard toyed with an instructor's heart on a whim, then spat her out when she lost her value.
Kate becomes a woman pitied and envied in equal measure.
Some say she hooked a hot guy and rode him good (or girly-like), others that she nearly got wrecked by a sleazy player.
"...I don't really know either."
But Kate and I know the truth.
"My chest feels tight, tormented, weird. I've never felt this before. There's something I desperately want, but it feels too big and beautiful for me."
"No, what are you talking about? Sounds like that bastard tried to strip you bare...! Get a grip!"
That's why we can laugh it off.
"I can't get a grip."
What happens at the training center
stays at the training center.
"Might be too late for that."
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Training Center Day 19,
8:06 PM.
Location: Company Commander’s office.
"Sir!"
Instructor Kate salutes her superior there. Her hand angle and posture look sharp, almost like her old competent self.
"Oh, yeah yeah. Kate. Called you in for something urgent."
The Company Commander acts chummy as usual. But when a commander gets overly friendly, there's always an ulterior motive.
"Forget what I said last time. That Trainee Han Jeong-woo? Too much trouble. Better to ship him off to another unit than keep him here, right?"
As expected,
she called Kate to backtrack.
Like bribery, the hospitality table's loaded with snacks and sweet tea.
Kate sits demurely, silently accepting the treats and nodding.
"Huh, really? All good?"
She's even surprised at how easy it was. In her mind, Kate was so obsessed with that guy she'd done every stupid thing imaginable...
"Yes, ma'am."
Now the tables turn.
Kate can't betray Trainee Han Jeong-woo's sincere sacrifice, his warm affection for her.
Maybe love is far more abstract than Kate thought.
More than picking a great partner,
or a no-loss marriage,
knowing how to sacrifice for the other might matter more.
Otherwise,
how else to explain her total infatuation with Han Jeong-woo just hours ago?
All her annoyance, rivalry, obsession—buried under overflowing love.
"I wasn't thinking straight. I'll follow your lead from now on, ma'am."
Tomorrow, nasty rumors about Trainee Han Jeong-woo will spread like wildfire.
"Really? Great! That's my Kate. Can't give your heart to those guys so easily. You know how worried I was?"
He'll be enemy number one,
but he's not weak enough to crumble.
"Phew, what a relief!"
Kate trusts Trainee Han Jeong-woo,
and as he said, sneaks the [Assistant Instructor Application] out from under the Company Commander's nose.
But she doesn't burn it.
Instead, she folds the paper tiny,
and tucks it preciously into her pocket lining.
...Right next to a pair of panties she hasn't washed yet, crumpled up in there.