[The Softness in My Palm and the Kingdom's Surprises]
Kim Jinwu held something soft and pliable in his hand.
“Aeng~”
A soft, squeaky sound escaped when he pinched the raised bump. That warm, yielding breast… oh, it was a chest. He turned to look at Yoo Dahui. A ridiculous laugh spilled out as she murmured sleepily.
“The second I wake up, you start fondling my tits…”
“Dislike it?”
Kim Jinwu grabbed her hand and pressed it firmly against her own breast.
“Nope. I love it.”
He kneaded her to his heart’s content, then got up from the bed. The room looked a complete mess again. “Wake up, you horny bastard.”
Three light knocks on the door. Yoo Dahui rolled out of bed smoothly. His cock had stayed alive and kicking. “Jinhee…! Jinhyuk…!”
He was glad. After all the trouble thinking it over, he could keep the names he’d given his kids.
Yoo Dahui slid up right behind him. “Jinhee? Jinhyuk? Who are those?”
“…Kid names.”
“Kid names? Your sons and daughters?”
Kim Jinwu kept talking without thinking. Anything, really. “Well, everyone thinks that stuff. When you have a daughter you name her this, when you have a son you name her that. You plan ahead.”
Can marriage even happen? Not sure.
“Jinhee’s a girl, right? I thought of naming my daughter Jinhee too.”
“Really?”
Yoo Dahui had thought of a daughter’s name as well. At this point he had to admit it. The Yoo Dahui sitting right in front of him now was completely different from the one in the novel.
“Why name her Jinhee? You never asked me.”
Yoo Dahui linked her arms with his and pressed closer. The moment her bare skin touched him, the urge to pin her down grew intense. He held back his urge to insert himself and asked the question she wanted to hear.
“…Why?”
“From Kim Jinwu comes Jin. From Yoo Dahui comes Hee.”
Yoo Dahui smiled brightly. “Jinhyuk isn’t bad either. Kim Jinhee, Kim Jinhyuk… I like it.”
Her smile was too radiant, making his throat tighten oddly. ‘The ending… is already decided. It won’t be all that different from the novel.’
Yoo Dahui will clear the Tower of Struggle and make a wish. He didn’t know what the wish was, but the novel would end that way no matter what. ‘I should have read the epilogue.’
On the day he returned from the front lines, the last chapter dropped. He never got to read the epilogue. He would probably never know how Yoo Dahui, who reached the top of the Tower, would live. It felt strangely bitter.
“I’ll head down first. I’ll shower and get ready.”
“Prepare for what?”
“For climbing the third floor.”
He had awakened. There was no reason to hesitate anymore. Going up to the third floor and adapting came first.
“You’re really going to the third floor?”
“Yeah. The time’s right, so I’m going.”
“The starting point might be renewed. Won’t that be a little too early?”
Yoo Dahui sounded like she had no intention of going up. If she was thinking about the starting point, she couldn’t rush it like this. Especially with so many strong players around now.
“Then I’ll head up first.”
“……”
Yoo Dahui made a grumpy face. “This time I’m going alone. With Elena and Isilia left behind, I want to climb by myself.”
“What? Why?”
The grumpy expression turned into a worried gaze. “I thought maybe that would let me grow somehow.”
He was stuck. His stats weren’t rising anymore. He needed a change. Stable hunting, training, PK… none of it was dangerous. Because of regression, he already had less fear of death. And there were too many strong players around. The worst environment for growth. Even the shortcut with Elena had reached its limit. He had to break through the wall by himself.
“I get it. I understand… but…”
Yoo Dahui was also a player summoned to the Tower of Struggle. She knew exactly what kind of worry he had. Mild situations wouldn’t help at all. Only an extreme crisis…
In that sense, the third floor was the perfect place. ‘Those damn bastards.’
Starting from the third floor, the infrastructure improved dramatically. No more huts or shacks. Players who settled on the third floor started eating other players. The second floor had been bad, but the third was properly bad. ‘There are guilds.’
On the second floor, a few like Wang Gohan had been the problem. On the third, it was guilds. “…You’re not going to stop me, are you?”
“No. I can’t just sit around.”
“…How long are you going to wait this time?”
“A week?”
Yoo Dahui seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. “I waited a whole month. A week is fine.”
She then sat on the edge of the bed and swept her tongue over her lips. As if tasting something delicious, she scanned his cock with her gaze.
“It’ll still be a tough challenge. So bring another week’s worth of fighting.”
“Hii… hee…!”
“Possible?”
The light coming through the window smashed against Yoo Dahui and shattered. That day, his cock remembered being squeezed and crumpled in Yoo Dahui’s pussy.
***
He headed toward the crater. The raid party members were Yoo Dahui, himself, and Isilia.
— With the three of us it should be enough. —
That’s what Elena had said to Yoo Dahui. Our levels were so high now that three of us could handle a Giant Lava Worm no problem.
‘At the very least, just eating a fire-resistant potion would make it less difficult than I thought.’
Ku gu gu gu—.
He arrived at the crater. The Giant Lava Worm writhed inside, playing. From a distance it looked cute. Up close, it was pure disgust. Black Magic ON.
[‘Life Force’ absorption activated.]
Ku gu gu gu—!
He hadn’t done anything yet and already drained the Giant Lava Worm’s life force. A creature that had nothing to do with mental power, but it worked anyway.
[‘Pluto’s Hand’ activated.]
If he could fill up life force, the infinite power Blackhand was complete. Tzuzuzuz—.
He tried to rush forward but cold air wrapped around his body. The power of a pure white dragon. The Lava Worm’s flames no longer burned hot.
He charged straight at the Giant Lava Worm.
“Here I gooo!”
Leading thirty Blackhands, he thrust his sword forward.
Puuk—!
His magic-infused sword easily pierced the worm’s body.
Kiiiieeeeek—!
Every time the worm writhed, lava spurted from its body. He had to be careful with eyes and other senses. Once they touched, they’d melt away and he’d become disabled.
“Watch out!”
Yoo Dahui swung her sword. Her sword energy was completely different. Sharper, more intense. If his sword was just a lightbulb, hers was a blazing furnace.
Swoosh—! Swoosh—!
Kiiiieeeeek—!
The Giant Lava Worm was nothing more than a sandbag. It became a combat power gauge to measure Yoo Dahui’s strength.
Chiiik—!
Every time lava splashed, the sound of meat cooking reached his ears. It was the sound that made your stomach drop, giving him the power to keep trembling.
“Ora ora ora ora ora!”
The Blackhands took no damage from the lava. They felt no heat at all. Naturally, they attacked relentlessly. He rained thirty Blackhands in succession.
The Giant Lava Worm’s gaze was fixed on Yoo Dahui, so it felt like hitting a sandbag.
Puuk, puuk, puuk—!
Ice shards flying in from behind. Sword, spear, arrow, axe, all kinds of weapons, they pounded the Giant Lava Worm.
They hunted the Giant Lava Worm with overwhelming superiority. It felt like it had grown that much stronger again. They toyed with it.
Puuk—!
Whoosh! Blood sprayed.
That the blood, not lava, was coming out meant the raid was almost over. [‘Life Force’ absorption activated.]
He kept absorbing life force. It was best to fill it up as much as possible before climbing to the third floor.
Swoosh—!
Yoo Dahui’s sword split the Giant Lava Worm’s body in half. It was sliced into two worm-like halves. A little big, but still.
“Huu, it was really easy.”
It stopped writhing. Completely dead.
—- [2nd floor boss monster subjugation complete…….]
[50,000 coins acquired!]
[‘Strength Lv.35’ ▶ ‘Strength Lv.36’]
[‘Agility Lv.35’ ▶ ‘Agility Lv.36’]
[‘Black Magic Lv.28’ ▶ ‘Black Magic Lv.30’]
[2nd floor cleared.]
—-
The Giant Lava Worm disintegrated into dust. Because he had been sucking life force non-stop, he leveled up two levels. ‘Sweet.’
A sweet reward made him smile.
“No portal?”
Yoo Dahui came closer. Even though the Giant Lava Worm had disappeared, the portal still showed no signs of appearing. ‘Actually, it was already created but…’
The portal appears near the horizon. It means you have to cross the sea somehow. Either help Moses on the first floor and get the mirror sphere, or make a raft and ride it across. ‘Honestly, I don’t know either.’
Sodahui was a perfect bus passenger. She chose the bus of the strongest players on each floor and rode it. The second floor was the same. Sometimes she crossed the sea with the mirror sphere, sometimes she was carried by people like Baek Seon-woo. Rafts and the like were usually included. It was all meaningless now. Ever since it was revealed that Isilia was Pluto’s slave, all that information became useless.
“The second floor portal spawns on the sea side.”
Isilia knew where the portal appeared.
“On the sea?”
“That’s why crossing the sea is harder than fighting the Lava Worm.”
He had to cross the sea before the portal closed after tiring himself out fighting the Giant Lava Worm. It wasn’t easy.
“Isilia, let’s go.”
Isilia obediently removed her dragon form. The dragon Isilia. Yoo Dahui approached.
“Don’t die, okay?”
“I won’t die.”
Don’t get hurt either. It hurts, right? Got it?”
He nodded instead of answering, because answering would make it longer. He turned his back and tried to mount Isilia.
Yoo Dahui grabbed his wrist.
“One kiss, then go.”
“Wah….”
“Why? Don’t like it?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
He could do it over and over. Smack. Smack.
Yoo Dahui’s arms wrapped around his neck. “Haa~”
Chuuup—.
What started as a kiss turned into deep kissing. They mingled their breaths, tongues dancing together.
— Portal closing soon. —
The kiss that never seemed to end finally ended thanks to complaining Isilia.
Yoo Dahui let out a sigh, looking a little sorry.
“Haa… see you in a week.”
“…Yeah.”
They waved briefly, then Isilia mounted his back. Flap—.
She soared through the sky and crossed the sea in one wingbeat. “There it is.”
A blue portal appeared above the sea. Closer than he thought. Isilia floated right above the portal. Wing flapping was just decoration; she was floating with some kind of magic.
“Isilia.”
— Why. —
He lowered his pants. Isilia panicked and flapped her wings.
— What are you doing up there?! What are you pulling out?! —
“No, I was just… trying to praise you…”
— Is that how you praise someone?! You’re supposed to pat my head and say in a gentle voice how well I did! That’s real praise! —
“Really?”
While stroking his cock, he stroked Isilia’s back.
— Uuuuugh! Gross! Go already! Disappear! —
“Thanks for the hard work. See you next time.”
— …… —
The flapping stopped. Without moving at all, Isilia floated in the air. He quickly stood up, pulled his pants up, and jumped down. Toward the portal.
— Kim Jinwu… —
When he passed through the light, he heard some words, but he didn’t care what they were.
—- [Safe Zone]
[PK prohibited.]
—-
Ku dang tang—!
The moment he entered the third floor, he tumbled violently once. Rolling on the dirt ground, he rose with a backflip.
“Kuhahaha. This guy sure made it through weirdly.”
“Alone? You came alone? A human? How did you even do that?”
“I’m human, but… it’s not bad at all.”
The safe zone of the third floor, the plaza of the Kingdom. Players living on the third floor watched him as if he were a zoo monkey.
‘I feel like a zoo monkey.’
Equipment engraved with different patterns was striking. Various guilds were waiting to recruit the new players that had come up. The atmosphere was completely different from the academy. The academy was about picking out the cream, here they were looking for decent hunting dogs.
A woman asked the players.
“Does anyone have a guild that will take me?”
“Humans are a little… no matter how good, there’s a limit.”
“We don’t need you either. Tch. No one else is coming up?”
There were no players coming through the portal. Only him.
“Seems like there aren’t any. If you’re not interested, I’ll take you.”
A mage with red hair and a shabby robe. A woman with impressive large glasses. And a nymph with ears slightly different from gnomes.
‘Who are they?’
Seemed like one of the characters not even described in the novel.