Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Not a Hero
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To begin with, I'm not a hero.
To begin with, heroes don't even bother with small fry like that.
I had no intention of investigating their illegal activities or putting in any effort to make them face legal judgment.
To begin with, those guys are just small fry.
They're parasites sucking blood from the floor.
Dealing with them wouldn't change the world.
It would just make things annoying for me.
It was true that Yu-na's father had borrowed money from those guys.
I couldn't say he was entirely blameless.
I bought the loan agreement contract from Yu-na's father with money.
I also threatened them not to touch Yu-na since she's mine now.
I could have thrown my weight around a bit, but instead, I paid them off cleanly so they'd be satisfied.
Beat them all to death?
That would just make things blow up.
There was a high chance it'd become a huge hassle for me.
Money solved it neatly, and I didn't want to waste energy on pointless stuff like this.
In every way, this was the least annoying and cleanest option.
Show them just enough power to keep them in line, and strike a reasonable, clean deal.
I could only pull this off because I'd awakened and had some leeway.
Now, how to handle this.
I needed to sort this out so the kid's dad wouldn't think it was weird.
That's why I have a company and a manager, right?
I figured I could just hand it off to Jin-ah to handle.
...
When I got home, Yu-na was still sound asleep in bed, passed out since before I left.
From Friday evening until today, she'd been sucking and going at it nonstop except for meal times.
Makes sense she'd look like that.
I slipped into bed and pulled her soft body into my arms.
The fluffy bed and the feel of her body were great.
"Ugh... feels good."
"Mm..."
Yu-na let out a cute little moan and snuggled closer.
Throb.
"Cut it out already, you little glutton. You've eaten your fill."
I fondly stroked Yu-na's body as she slept in my arms.
She was worth all the effort.
...
I decided to take Yu-na home.
It was a shame, but unavoidable.
Yu-na refused, but after putting up with my exploded lust for so long, she must be tired, and I felt a bit guilty too.
On the way back in the car, I told her I'd deposit 300 million won—taken from the loan shark boss after the auction money—into her account.
I considered taking more from him, but showed mercy considering he'd connected me to Yu-na.
I have the contract, so her dad just needs to repay me, not the loan shark.
"Why are you paying it off for him?"
Yu-na insisted on using the huge sum of 300 million to help pay off her dad's debt.
"It's... to repay even a little of the grace you've shown me so far..."
"Grace? What grace?"
It was a stiff word rarely heard between parents and children.
"They adopted and raised me even though I'm not their real child..."
'Hm. Adoptive parents, huh?'
Seeing how she went out to sell herself willingly, they must not have been bad parents from Yu-na's perspective.
"So you want to repay that grace?"
Yu-na nodded shyly.
What to do with this naive girl who knows nothing of the world?
"What are you gonna tell your adoptive dad?"
"Huh?"
"'I sold my body to pay off some debt'?"
"Ah..."
Yu-na's face flushed red.
"I'll do it interest-free with no deadline anyway. Whether he pays or not doesn't matter."
Yu-na asked in surprise.
"Is that okay?"
"It's pocket change to me. I just left it as 'debt' so your dad won't think it's weird. Nothing for you to worry about."
Yu-na fidgeted restlessly.
"St. Still..."
"This isn't your fault. No reason for you to pay it back. And this is better for you."
"Th. Then this money is... as thanks for helping me, to you, sir..."
Is she still young? Or just too kind for her own good?
"That's fair payment. Your body is worth that much."
Yu-na's face turned beet red as I smiled and said it.
"St. Still, you helped me so much..."
"If you want to repay me that badly, come over to my place sometimes and play with me."
"P. Play?"
I grinned at her plump, juicy body, and she got the hint, bowing her head deeply.
"Y. Yes..."
She whispered so softly it was barely audible.
'We've seen everything there is to see, and she's still acting cute.'
"Use it however you want, but don't think stupid stuff like it's dirty money or not earned honestly."
I said it preemptively since Yu-na might overthink it.
"Yes..."
...
Yu-na didn't come home all weekend.
Jin-woo felt suffocated with anxiety.
He called, but she didn't pick up.
Of course, he didn't know the number for that girl Alice or her home.
She'd called Mom saying she'd be home today.
'She says she calls Mom once a day, so why ignore mine?'
'Is she ghosting my calls? No way... Embarrassed to talk to me?'
He entertained a slightly happy fantasy.
"Jin-woo, stop spacing out and take out the trash."
Mom's words snapped him out of it.
"Yes..."
On his way to dump the trash, Jin-woo saw a pickup truck pull into the apartment parking lot and stop.
A big guy got out of the driver's seat.
'Whoa... huge.'
He was tall, but what stood out was the perfect masculine muscle definition straining against his tight black short-sleeve shirt—not forced bulk, but flawlessly sculpted.
Jin-woo thought he was in decent shape from working out to become a hero, but seeing this guy dented his confidence a bit.
'B. But my face is better, right?'
The man went around to the passenger side and lifted out the woman sitting there.
Jin-woo, watching absentmindedly, widened his eyes.
The woman's face was familiar.
It was Yu-na.
Jin-woo froze at the sight of Yu-na being held by the stranger as she got out of the car.
Especially the man's hand gripping her butt—that detail burned into his eyes.
'Yu... Yu-na?'
His heart pounded wildly.
The world spun. Dizziness hit him.
Yu-na carefully greeted the man, who lightly patted her head before driving off.
Yu-na's face was slightly flushed.
The man soon drove the pickup truck away.
Yu-na stared blankly at his departing figure, then noticed someone watching her.
Spotting Jin-woo, her eyes trembled.
"J. Jin-woo."
Jin-woo barely held onto his sanity and asked.
"Y. Yu-na... Th. That guy just now..."
"Uh... uh... J. Just someone I know."
"........."
Jin-woo tried to say something but was frozen, words failing him.
Jin-woo returned home with Yu-na in awkward silence, the air tense.
All the while, he agonized nonstop.
'M. Maybe... I. I'm misunderstanding something?'
It could really just be someone she knows, like she said.
Yu-na wasn't the type to lie.
Maybe she just ran into an acquaintance and got a ride.
'Do I know all of Yu-na's friends?'
The image of Yu-na being held as she got out of the car wouldn't leave his mind.
And that hand.
That hand gripping Yu-na's butt!!
Yu-na couldn't say no or make a fuss, so maybe she was groped and just didn't speak up.
Yes! That's it!
Jin-woo finally thought it all fit together.
Yu-na didn't suit a guy like that.
He looked way older than her.
Yu-na with some old geezer?
No way in hell!!!
It must've been just a casual acquaintance she barely knew.
Yu-na was too nice to refuse or complain.
The guy took advantage of that.
'Damn... idiot! I stood there like a moron even after seeing that!'
Jin-woo tore at his hair.
He was ashamed of himself for thinking something was going on between that guy and Yu-na.
He should've protected her!
Stopped that guy's hand himself!
-Grind!
Jin-woo realized he was grinding his teeth from excitement.
He felt sorry for Yu-na.
For being too dazed to do anything or even think straight.
'Pathetic!!'
Jin-woo was filled with guilt and self-loathing.
'I. I need to apologize to Yu-na...'
...
Truth be told, I wanted to keep her another week.
She'd told them she was only staying the weekend at a friend's, so not sending her back could cause annoying trouble.
-Tsk.
Still regretting it, I clicked my tongue.
After dropping Yu-na home, I returned and prepared to finally use the postponed login.
"Hoo..."
I took a light deep breath.
"Let's go."
"Entry passage?"
A transparent simulation of where to install it appeared before my eyes.
"A door?"
It looked like a large rectangular panel, about a bit over 1m wide and 2.5m tall—like an oversized door.
Wonder if I can put it in the living room.
It's a skill anyway.
If I can install it, I can probably uninstall too.
I picked a suitable spot and executed the installation.
Vrrr.
A rectangular passage rippled with silver waves.
Less like a door, more like a gate in color.
I placed my palm on it.
My hand didn't go in past a point—there was resistance.
A system message popped up.