Alpha Female (2)
The shared heat cycle phenomenon. A frequent occurrence among animal-awakened individuals sharing the same living space. As the name implies, the content is straightforward: hormonal changes synchronize their heat cycles, causing everyone to experience estrus around the same time.
To sum it up bluntly, it described the current situation perfectly.
"Oppa…."
"Oppa…."
In truth, I'd known for a long time that Jina and Seona harbored favorable feelings toward me. For one, we were all from the same hunter training academy, and even before that, we'd been vaguely acquainted through Mina. Unlike Mina, whose relationship with me was purely platonic friendship, Jina and Seona had always made their goodwill toward me obvious.
On top of that, among the animal-awakened girls, they were the ones who had never crossed the line into sexual harassment or attempted rape against me. So, my feelings toward them weren't bad at all.
If that hadn't been the case, I never would have shared moments of love with Mina in this semi-basement villa, where there was always a risk of getting caught. I'd have insisted strongly on meeting outside to handle things.
In that sense, the current situation—where the twins were lunging at me due to the shared heat cycle phenomenon—wasn't entirely unwelcome. After all, my ability accumulated points the more sex I had, and it was preferable to build connections with two people I'd known for years rather than starting from scratch with total strangers.
Deep down, I wanted to pop a stamina potion right now and fuck all three sisters, including Jina and Seona, until morning.
But unfortunately, I had reasons why I couldn't embrace them at this moment, and the twins—who were undoubtedly expecting it—would have to be disappointed.
First off, both of them were still minors, with a few months left until adulthood. Of course, the definition of "minor" here was just a standard based on how age was counted in this world, which differed slightly from my original one. By my original world's standards, they were already of age.
As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I had no intention of touching girls who were legally minors by this world's rules, even if their actual age equated to adulthood from my previous life.
But aside from that, there was another reason I'd decided not to touch Jina and Seona.
It was because they weren't official hunters yet—not until they graduated from school.
Someone might argue that as trainees, it wasn't much different, but my awakening ability apparently didn't see it that way.
Unlike Mina, whose profile floated a red heart next to her face, the hearts next to Jina and Seona were bound in chains, locked tight.
Naturally, no expected point gains appeared either.
It felt almost like the system was telling me outright: Don't touch them until they're official hunters.
If I relieved their lust in this state, I wouldn't get any awakening points.
Moreover, based on Eunyoung-noona's earlier speculation, the purpose of my awakening ability was strictly to manage hunters' libidos and boost their survival rates.
So, it made sense that I couldn't earn points from two people who weren't official hunters yet, even if we had sex.
Of course, I wouldn't have minded embracing them anyway and relieving their desires without caring about points.
Still, I figured it would be better to make their first experiences meaningful—by holding off until they became official hunters, then consummating and earning points.
That felt like the ideal scenario all around.
"Oppa…. Relieve my sexual frustration too…. Don't just focus on unnie, me too…!"
"Me too, please, Taekyung-oppa. Just once is fine…."
So, much as I felt sorry for Jina and Seona, I'd have to put off sleeping with them a bit longer.
I stroked the heads of the two girls who had lunged at me, now huddled against my lower body covered by the blanket. My right palm for Jina on the right, my left for Seona on the left.
"Calm down, both of you."
Since they were still in the early stages of awakening, suppressing their instincts wasn't impossible for them yet. Unlike Mina, who'd been active as a pro for over two years.
"Taekyung~! Hurry up~! I wanna kiss more! And shove your cock in again and cum deep inside~!!"
"……."
"……."
Thanks to Mina shamelessly blurting out whatever came to mind due to the alpha female phenomenon, Jina and Seona snapped out of it for a moment, their expressions calming.
"If you don't want to end up like that by giving in to your instincts, calm down first."
"…Got it, oppa."
"…Understood, oppa."
With Han Mina faithfully serving as a negative example, convincing the two wasn't too hard.
"Jina."
"Yeah, oppa."
"And Seona."
"Yes, oppa."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I can't embrace you right now."
"……Huh?"
"……What?"
The moment I finished speaking, expressions of utter incomprehension flashed across their faces.
Soon, those shifted into a mix of confusion and grievance.
"Why, why?!"
Jina looked utterly wronged, like a kid who'd lost something entrusted to her.
"Is it because you've sworn not to form bonds with anyone other than big sis, oppa?"
I shook my head at Seona's genuinely curious question.
"No, that's not it. Sex with Mina is just to relieve her heat cycle—it's not because she's my girlfriend or anything."
"Th-then it doesn't matter! I'm in heat too! Why only unnie and not me?!"
"Because you two aren't official hunters yet."
"What?!"
Han Jina bounced up in agitation at my words.
"That's all?! Does being official or not really matter that much to you, oppa?!"
"…I agree with little unnie, oppa. We're already contracted to join a company guild right after graduation, so aren't we basically official hunters in practice?"
"Y-yeah! Just a few more months and I'll be an official hunter like unnie! So it shouldn't matter!"
I grabbed Jina and Seona's shoulders as they slyly leaned in toward my face again.
"No."
"Aww, oppa!!"
"What I mean by 'official hunter' is someone who properly faces monsters and clears dungeons as a hunter. You two haven't even been on your first raid yet."
"What's the difference…!"
"There's a big difference. Like I told you before, my dream is a world with no deaths by monsters. In that context, the ones I relieve are strictly official hunters."
"……."
"Sorry, but I can't compromise on this. Even if you hate it, I'm not changing my mind."
Han Jina's mouth, which had been opening for a tirade of grievance, clamped shut.
She must have realized nothing she said would sway me.
Then, a question came from Seona on my left.
"Taekyung-oppa."
"Yeah, Seona."
"Are you sure you only relieve official hunters, as you just said?"
Unlike Jina, Seona calmly grasped the meaning of my words and pierced to the core.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Then what exactly is your definition of an official hunter, oppa?"
"……."
I paused on Han Seona's question and mentally directed one to Esila.
Because what mattered wasn't my personal definition of an official hunter—it was the system's.
'Esila. What's the system's criteria for targets it deems eligible for point accumulation?'
The Hunter Libido Manager System recognizes an entity as an official hunter once they have formally registered with a hunter guild and defeated 10 or more monsters through direct or indirect actions.
'Ten monsters? Does party hunting count?'
'Yes.'
The criteria were far more lenient than I'd expected, bringing a smile to my inner thoughts.
I knew their skills well enough to be confident it wasn't a tall order.
So, I relayed Esila's exact definition of an official hunter back to Seona.
"Become an official hunter and defeat ten monsters. That's my definition of an official hunter."
"…Does monster rank factor into your judgment?"
"Doesn't matter. A-rank or D-rank, ten monsters. That's the line."
Precisely, the system's line, but still.
"If you endure your urges without anyone else for the remaining months, become official hunters, and successfully take down ten monsters…."
"……."
"……."
"Then I promise to be the first one to relieve your sexual frustration."