A Lazy Day and a Persistent Guest

Because of the strange man who had showed up at the guild demanding to see me, I ended up spending the next few days cooped up at home. Apparently, the guy was so incredibly persistent that he came back every single day. I was almost curious enough to wonder what his deal was, and I even debated meeting him in person just to make him stop... but then I remembered those sasaeng fans I'd seen recently. No, calling them "fans" was too generous. They were malicious stalkers. Having witnessed their behavior, I felt a chill of apprehension. With my strength, I probably didn't need to be afraid, but... the sheer unpredictability of what kind of disgusting stunt he might pull was genuinely terrifying.

Anyway, it had been a while since I had the house all to myself, and I was bored out of my mind. I sat there, mindlessly staring at the TV. There wasn't anything particularly interesting on; I was just using it to kill time.

"The Olympics, huh..."

The screen showed athletes sweating bullets as they trained for next year's Olympics. I couldn't help but think, So what? But as they talked about the athletes, the topic naturally shifted to Awakened individuals. Specifically, they were discussing why Awakened were banned from professional sports. The broadcast had invited a B-Class Hunter to undergo various physical tests and demonstrate their athletic capabilities. They measured things like skeletal muscle mass and showed how much more explosive power a Hunter possessed relative to their muscle size. When compared to a normal athlete, the difference was staggering. Even with similar physical builds and almost identical skeletal muscle mass, the Hunter's actual strength was over 1.3 times greater.

And then, for some godforsaken reason, a clip of me appeared on the screen as a reference.

"Are you fucking kidding me..."

It was the footage of me throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the baseball stadium. They even included an interview with one of the baseball players, who claimed that my pitches had exceeded 200 kilometers per hour during practice. Then they replayed the pitch. At least, since it was a major broadcasting station, they had edited the footage so my bouncing breasts weren't as prominent...

"Ugh..."

Still, the sheer embarrassment made me want to bury my face in my hands. Were they even allowed to use that footage like this? Well, it was recorded during a live baseball broadcast, so... Damn it. It wasn't like the broadcasting station would care if I filed a complaint. In any case, the show went on to highlight the superhuman physical capabilities of Hunters once again.

Ah, I was so bored... And since there was no one else home anyway... I quietly slipped into my room and unlocked my secret drawer. Inside lay an assortment of devices... toys designed solely for a woman's pleasure, with a couple of "massagers" mixed in for good measure.

"Ahem!"

Living with my sister and working at the guild meant I rarely had any time to enjoy myself in peace. If not now, when? Sure, it was a little embarrassing to admit, but... it would be weirder not to have a sex drive, right? Let's see, my sister had about six hours left before she got home? Maybe less. If I factored in cleanup time, I had about four hours...

"Four hours..."

Long if it's long, short if it's short. I plugged my earphones into my phone and searched for a video. A story of two people sharing their love... psychological satisfaction. Hehehe... Midway through, I also browsed other things on my phone. Specifically, the comments sexually harassing me under my videos. Reading them gave me a bizarre sensation. I knew this body of mine was incredibly attractive to men, but the internet was the only place where they expressed it so blatantly. If anyone dared to do that to my face in real life? I would have cracked their skull open instantly. Yet, reading those vulgar comments made me feel a strange, itchy restlessness. Honestly, it was only natural to be curious about what actual intimacy with a man would feel like, right? Of course, out of respect for my chastity, I had no intention of actually giving my body to anyone, but curiosity was still curiosity. Either way, those crude comments made my body flush with a strange heat.

"Haa..."

Before I knew it, my breathing grew heavy. Letting out hot, ragged gasps, I let my hands do the work. After using various toys to pleasure myself in different ways, my body felt so languid and heavy that it was hard to even budge. Still, I had to clean up after myself. Dragging myself up, I put everything back in order. I wiped down the toys thoroughly before locking them back in the drawer, threw my damp underwear and bedsheets into the washing machine, and took a shower. Once I was clean and refreshed, I cracked open a can of coffee and took a sip.

"Ah..."

A pleasant, cozy exhaustion washed over me. Honestly, living a life where I did nothing but eat and masturbate didn't sound half bad... Having a mountain of money really let my mind wander to some wild places. Back when I was broke and freeloading, I had so many things to worry about, but now? I had more than enough money to live independently, which brought me immense peace of mind.

Since I was already up, should I do some chores? I thought about running the vacuum before my sister got back, but... the post-orgasm lethargy made me too lazy to move. Before I knew it, I was sprawled out on the bed, mindlessly sucking on an ice cream bar. Ahem... A sudden wave of mild regret washed over me. I could swear I had promised myself a few months ago that I wouldn't do this kind of thing anymore... Was I just stressed?

"Sigh."

Maybe I should ask her to have some spicy tteokbokki for dinner tonight? The thought of a famous franchise tteokbokki crossed my mind. I had eaten it once before with Ah-young and Gyuri, and it was delicious. What was it called... Yeopgi Tteokbokki? The name was hilarious, but the food was seriously good. I looked it up on my phone, debating whether to order it with my sister. Making it myself was an option, but...

"Cooking is just too hard."

In my current state, I was a terrible cook. So, when my sister finally got home, I suggested we get tteokbokki. She reacted immediately.

"Tteokbokki? Oh, I'd love something spicy."

Perhaps because her time of the month was approaching, she readily agreed. During those days, women always seemed to crave things that were strangely sweet, spicy, or greasy... We stuffed ourselves with the fiery tteokbokki that evening. Washing down the spicy food with a cold glass of juice—ah! Seriously, returning to Earth was the best decision of my life. It wasn't that my life in the Other World had been completely miserable, but comparing its culinary culture to Earth's was practically an insult to Earth. Of course, given humanity's dire situation over there, it couldn't be helped. And topping it off with ice cream for dessert? Absolute heaven!

Even after that, I couldn't go to the guild and ended up staying home. The culprit was the monsoon season. With the heavy downpours, Hunters naturally scaled back their activities. Unless it was an absolute emergency, there was no real reason to go out. However, since I wasn't alone in the house anymore, I had to behave myself. Today, Ah-young and Gyuri came over to visit. To be precise, Gyuri had come to learn Divine Arts from me, and Ah-young had tagged along with her friend. Of course, my sister was there too.

"Divine Arts are so difficult," Gyuri sighed. The sheer variety of healing spells alone was overwhelming. "To think the treatment method changes entirely depending on the type of injury..."

"Of course, you can technically treat them with a basic heal," I replied.

But if you did that, the bones might set incorrectly, or the muscles could end up twisted. That was why one had to be extremely careful when setting bones or reconnecting muscle fibers. Honestly, for this part, it was much better to study professional medical knowledge...

"Medical knowledge..." Gyuri murmured, looking daunted.

"It might be tough, but it's best to at least learn the basics."

"Did you study medicine too, Nix?"

I shook my head. Well, there was no harm in being honest with these two.

"It's true that I picked up some knowledge along the way, but mostly, I rely on my eyes."

At the mention of "eyes," they both looked at me in confusion.

"Well... I have a skill similar to Appraisal. It allows me to visually perceive the exact state and location of an injury. Since I can see exactly what's wrong, I can respond to it immediately."

"Ah..."

Gyuri couldn't hide her thoughts, her face practically glowing with envy. Honestly, even I had to admit these eyes of mine were incredibly convenient. In any case, I hung out with Ah-young and Gyuri at home. Ah-young, who had apparently been looking forward to this, had even brought along some board games. I had never played anything like them before... but once we started, they were surprisingly fun. The only real issue was the fact that we were all Awakened. Any game that required physical reflexes or dexterity quickly became highly problematic.

"I think I picked the wrong game," Ah-young said sheepishly.

"Still, it was fun," I reassured her.

"Really?"

I glanced over at my sister. The other two didn't seem to notice, but Seohui was clearly having a great time.

"Neither Seohui nor I really have any friends... so this is a first for us."

Hanging out with friends like this was a completely novel experience. For some reason, as soon as those words left my mouth, a solemn silence fell over Ah-young and Gyuri, and they looked at us with deep pity.

"Well, being active as a Hunter does make it hard to socialize," Ah-young murmured softly.

After all, I was someone who had gone missing inside a Gate...

"On the contrary, I'm grateful to you guys for showing us how to do this."

If not for these two, who else would have taught us how to just hang out and have fun?

"I-In that case, should we all go on a trip together this summer?" Ah-young stammered.

Look at this girl, finally having enough breathing room in her life to think about vacations, huh?

"It's the season when everyone goes on vacation anyway. Wouldn't it be nice for us to go somewhere to relax?" Gyuri chimed in, agreeing.

A vacation... Right, those existed. Back when I was a man and in the prime of my working years, the IMF crisis had just hit, so vacations were treated as an absolute luxury and a waste of time.

"A vacation... Come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to think of it, Seohui, aren't you going on vacation?"

"A vacation? Out of nowhere?"

Well, she had our parents to think about...

"What about Mom and Dad?"

"Oh, I already booked a trip to Jeju Island for them."

Apparently, she had already planned everything out. She wasn't going herself; instead, she wanted the two of them to enjoy a quiet, romantic getaway together.

"Jeju Island... That's a lovely place."

"What if we went on a vacation too? Somewhere like the beach!" Ah-young suggested, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

At that, Gyuri and Seohui both turned their gaze toward me. In particular, my sister's eyes locked onto my chest with blatant intensity.

"It'd be too difficult because of Sis," Seohui said.

"It'd be too difficult because of Nix," Gyuri agreed at the exact same time.

"What did I do?" I protested.

"I mean, if we go to a public beach, you're going to cause an absolute riot, Sis."

Uh... Well, that was...

"Sis, do you honestly have the confidence to walk around in a swimsuit in front of a crowd of strangers?"

"I mean, I could do it..."

It would be mortifying and embarrassing, but it wasn't like I physically couldn't.

"And you know guys are going to swarm you and try to hit on you, right?"

That...

"You wouldn't be able to stand it. You'd probably punch them on the spot."

Well, yes. Of course, since it would be a sacred fist imbued with the power of healing, they wouldn't actually sustain any lasting injuries.

"And that's why we can't go," Seohui concluded.

Ah-young looked utterly stunned by my sister's logic.

"Am I really the only problem here? You guys are all plenty pretty, so I'm sure guys would try to hit on you too."

Objectively speaking, while I was exceptionally beautiful, the other three were also highly attractive.

"Please. Sis, your chest is the biggest problem, hands down."

My face instantly contorted. The combination of the words "swimsuit" and "chest" triggered a very complicated mix of emotions. Walking around in a swimsuit in front of other people? Hmm... Would men really be able to keep their hands to themselves if they saw these breasts?

"Yikes... Yeah, that does sound tough," Ah-young winced.

"Unless we rent out a private beach, it's practically impossible," Seohui added.

A private beach... Did she mean a privately owned shore?

"Speaking of men... did you know that guy from before is still coming by?" Ah-young suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

"That guy from before?"

"Yes. The man who keeps coming to the guild every single day looking for you, Nix."

Apparently, he was incredibly persistent, showing up day after day without fail. Even though he was rejected every single time, he kept insisting that he absolutely had to see me, begging for just a single meeting...

"What a persistent creep," Seohui muttered, looking thoroughly displeased.

I felt a bit annoyed too... but at the same time, my curiosity was piqued.

"I wonder what his reason for wanting to meet me is..."

"Do you really think he has a decent reason?"

I just offered my sister a wry smile. True... if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had a genuinely important purpose, he probably would have stated it. But still, what could be so important that he'd go to such lengths? Should I just meet him once? It wasn't like I had anything better to do anyway...

Regardless, we spent the rest of the day happily chatting away.